Lighthouse Horror Podcast - People Have Been Going Missing From My Local Park. Last Night I Found Out Why | Scary Stories

Episode Date: April 22, 2024

Don't go outside tonight... Story from t4bullock Make sure to check out more of their work at u/t4bullock  Cover Art from Brian Valeza Original Post: The Wolf in Millennium Park : r/nosleep  Original YouTube link: People Have Been Going Missing From My Local Park. Last Night I Found Out Why           For more stories like this one, check out my YouTube channel: Lighthouse Horror | YouTube  Patreon: Lighthouse Horror | Patreon Merch: lighthousehorror.com  Sound Effects: Freesound Zapsplat Music: Lucas King - YouTube Myuu - YouTube  Incompetech  Thank you for listening to this scary story! If you enjoyed this new creepypasta story, please check out some of my other horror stories. We'll be uploading new episodes every week, featuring ghost stories, haunted encounters, mysteries, true stories, creepypasta, and anything supernatural and paranormal. Don't miss out on the thrill and suspense that await you in each episode!

The creature of the night, fully attuned to the environment and low-light conditions, sniffed in short, quick burst to check his surroundings. The nose was pushed high in the air, well-developed nostrils inhaled deeply, and blew air from the slits beneath them, which stimulated the olfactory senses to make the creature aware of all around it. One ear rotated to the right as it detected a sound in the tall grass. The other ear faced forward. The eyes, which reflected the full moonlight above, were laser-focused on one instinctual urge.

I held my breath, waiting for it to make a move. This was the moment I'd waited for, for more than 20 minutes. Macho, my well-adjusted five-month-old chocolate lab puppy cocked his leg and urinated on the fire hydrant. His eyes remained focused on the squirrel, which had descended the massive oak tree, to fetch a midnight snack in the tall grass just off the sidewalk. This was the first time macho had ever cried to go outside to use the bathroom. A good sign his potty training was coming along. He kicked and tore at the grass near the hydrant with his back feet, until I tugged

at the leather leash for him to cease. He wagged his tail as I grogly administered a pat on the head and a treat to reward the behavior. I yawned deeply and checked my phone. It was just after 11. I had to be awake for work in seven hours. Come on, macho man, time for bed again. I rubbed him behind the ears and began the walk back home. The park at the edge of the neighborhood was beautiful and cared for by the city.

Elegant street lamps created to match the image of old oil lamps, illuminated the pathways for safe traversing even in the dead of night. My neighborhood, known as Millennium Park, sat just off the edge of downtown proper. Just over one hundred two-story homes full of families lined each street, nestled between rows of ancient oaks, which were never cut down when the city was built. The cool breeze of autumn ripped through the forested park around May. A mountain of orange and red leaves cascaded down around May. Macho did battle with one as it tumbled down onto his nose, until he tripped.

tripped over his own feet and cartwheeled under his stomach. I couldn't help with smile as he looked back at me in confusion. I passed a park billboard, nothing more than cork and a wooden frame. I examined the warnings and photographs, tacked and stapled around it. Unsure of if the breeze or the sight caused me to shiver, I turned away. Over the last six months, three children and more than a dozen pets had gone missing in Millennium Park. It started with Joseph Umsum's A nine-year-old boy who disappeared in his own backyard. A month later, two twin girls and their pug vanished from their backyard during an evening barbecue.

Every month someone or someone's pet went missing. Four cats vanished in one evening. The fact that every disappearance occurred on the night of a full moon led to the locals dubbing the incidents the full moon murders, even though no body. had been found up to that point. That is, until little Timothy, Timmy Garland turned up. Timmy was found seven feet off the ground, wedged between the branches of a birch tree, where the park abutted Saunders Street. His liver had been ripped from his body, and the corpse mingled beyond all recognition. He was only identified after his mother located his identikid card for a fingerprint

match. The brutality of the kill had shocked the city and gave the parents of the other missing children less hope for a safe return. And yet here I was, on the full moon, walking my dog while I scrolled on my phone. But I was an adult, not a child, and certainly not an overweight house cat locked outside in the night. Still, the thought of those poor kids, all missing after so much time disturbed me. I stepped awkwardly as I stared down at my phone and tumbled off the concrete sidewalk. I landed directly on my butt. Pain radiated up my back and wretched my hips at an awkward angle. Macho stopped and looked back at me, then trotted over to nudge my hands. I looked around to make sure no one saw my embarrassing gaff, then remembered the time. A chilly breeze crinkled the leaves on the

ground and caused the skin on my left elbow to sting. I raised it up, but felt the warm trickle of blood before I saw it. Macho bounded around me, making sure to nudge and lick at my fingers. I'm okay, macho man. Really, cut it out, I told him, but knew I couldn't be mad at him for checking on my safety. I stood up cautiously and stretched my body at the hips. I tried to pat the very good boy on the head, but he continued to bob and weave. Macho's ears nipped straight up, and he suddenly ceased all movement.

His entire body became rigid, and he stood in front of me, fur erect. He lowered his head and tucked his tail between his legs. He stared intently across the open expanse of the park into the swirling blackness of night. The breeze blew directly into our faces as Macho frozen place. We were downwind of something. he didn't like. What is it?

What do you see? Macho whimpered and retreated towards me. He plodded me to pick him up. I narrowed my eyes to gaze beyond the sidewalk, where the warm embrace of the street lamps could not reach. At first, I could see nothing. The darkness enveloped everything in a smothering coil. Then I caught movement.

I thought it was my mind playing tricks on me at first. But the more I stared, the more I realized it indeed was someone walking across the field. No, not a someone. It was a something. It was slumped low, slinking like a beast. My blood ran cold. I was being stalked. I couldn't make out what the form was, but it moved carefully and slowly, with precise, delicate movements.

Macho cowered and growled weakly. I quickly checked the distance between the thing in front of me and the path to the stone bridge, which led to the park's exit. I scooped up the little puppy in one arm, and I made a break for it. In full sprint, I didn't dare look back as my mind raced with what it could be. Coyote, I thought. It had to be. But it looked much too big.

Bears had been seen in the area, frequently mind. migrating between the mountains and the coast. Was I being attacked by a black bear? I reached the bridge and stopped to catch my breath under a street lamp. The creature was still there, maneuvering from one shadow to another. It was smart, very smart. I was less than a block from my home. I ran as quickly as I could to the street. I heard the soft pitter patter of bare feet on the pavement, as the thing kept pace with me. I spiked. I spotted my brownstone-style home, the warm, safe glow of my front porch lamp to guide me. I raced up the steps and inserted my key.

Damn it, wrong key. I fumbled to remove it as I looked back. The shadow was closing quickly. Macho, slung snugly over my shoulder, looked back at the incoming threat and cried incessantly. Shit, it was close. Why did I have so many damn keys on my ram? I found the correct one, and I pushed the door open and practically fell inside.

I kicked the door shut with my right foot as Macho fell onto the floor and scurried down the hall into the den. A loud thud echoed through the door as the creature rammed it. It really was after us. I couldn't believe it. My heart pounded through my ribcage. The full moon, which had shone brightly during the walk, was now covered by clouds. The interior of the home was shrouded in complete darkness. There was a bang as it impacted the door.

It groaned slightly. Another bang. Another, and this time the door creaked as the wood weakened. Shit, shit, shit. It was going to break the door down. I heard metal being sheared apart. The creature rammed the door a fourth time, but this attack was much weaker. It had injured itself?

There was another bang. This one was soft, muted, and more like a dull thud. I waited for the next impact, but it never came. I sat motionless, and the black foyer of my home, scared to death. There were three knocks on the door. Hello, Mr.—the voice came meekly, like it was exhausted. Help me. It's cold outside, in real dark. The voice sounded like a child. I steadied myself on my feet and reached for the doorknob, and trembling. The soft click of Macho's nail on the hardwood floors told me he was carefully creeping back towards me. I gripped the old brass knob and turned it slowly. I allowed the door to creak open just a crack.

crack to reveal a small child, maybe five years old. He was naked and covered from head to toe in dirt, grime, and filth. His matted hair clung to his head and neck. Some of his toenails were missing, and his hands were raw and bled open like. His hands were wrapped around his chest against the wind. I stared into those small blue eyes, and suddenly my mind clicked. Joey? Joey Umsted? Oh my God! I said as I fully threw the door open. I'd just seen his photograph on the board in the park. He'd been missing nearly six months. He was the first. He stared at me with vacant eyes and shivered. I'm hungry. He said tiredly and rubbed his emaciated frame. I placed my left hand on the front door, but recoiled quickly.

What the hell? I stuttered as I looked at the solid oak frame. Four deep gouges raked across the front, reaching corner to corner. Several smaller slashes ripped through the blue paint and deep into the untreated portion of the wood. The rod-iron railing, which lined my stoop, was bent and twisted like a pretzel. The damage was unfathomable. Macho crept to my heel and bowed his head, then began to growl viciously.

His tail was tucked under his legs. I stared at him, completely perplexed. My dog cowered. A filthy missing child was at my door, and something had destroyed my front door. A kid, did you see... The clouds broke overhead, and the pale light of the full moon beamed down onto my porch. The child twisted and convulsed violently. He let out a pained scream as his voice broke. He fell to all fours and pounded the concrete patio. I heard a deep, sickening snap.

His shoulders rocked back, and his hips jutted backwards. His bones were breaking. His fingernails fell from his hands and clattered against the cold concrete, but they were quickly replaced by massive claws. Little Joseph Umsted ripped the flesh from his naked torso in chunks. Macho trembled and peed himself. The little boy tipped over and rolled down the seven steps to the sidewalk. Massive gouts of blood poured from his body as large chunks of fur jutted viciously from his exposed flesh. His jaw dislocated as massive teeth

pushed through the lips. I just stood there, frozen and abject terror. His bones continued to break and pop, and he appeared to balloon in size right before my eyes. Joseph reached up to his eyes with his gargantuan swollen hands and peeled his face off from scalp to jawline. In one clean swipe, he beat his head repeatedly against the cobblestone sidewalk, letting blood trickle into the gaps like little crimson rivers. Muscles twitched and ripped and healed as it continued to grow until the child was fully transformed. After a moment, the thing rose and turned to face me. I stared down into the light blue eyes of an enormous wolf, or at least what I could closely approximate to a wolf. It easily stood more than six feet in height. It was thinly built, but I could see long sinewy

strands of muscle tissue beneath the ragged skin. Mange riddled the creature. Reducing what should have been a thick coat down to a mottled mess of patches of brown fur. The monstrous canine bared its teeth and rotated its ears back. What little hair remained along the nape, raised in a thick ridge between the shoulder blades, as the tail extended straight out from the body. It stamped a hind leg against the stone sidewalk, tearing what used to be the skin of the child's face in two. Shit, I said to myself. I slammed the door shut and sprinted towards the kitchen. A terrifying bang rattled the frame of the house.

I slid to a stop near my kitchen counter and peered down the hallway toward the foyer. The mammoth wolf was framed in the soft moonlight. His silhouette striking a nightmarish angle. Macho quickly tailed behind me, quickly losing traction on the slick floors. It took a step inside my home. Then another, the crushed doorframe fell away as it wrenched the door free from the hinges and tossed it against the wall. I scrambled my block of knives.

I yanked the largest one out roughly, which knocked over the entire block to the tiled floor. I quickly scooped up a steak knife, and I threw it like a ninja in an action film. It clattered uselessly against the floor. The wolf never flinched. It continued forward in a flow, a methodical pace, clearly still healing from the transformation. The creature extended its right arm and dragged the nails against the wall. They slice through the walls easily. It continued forward, and the talons cut.

into the old mirror which hung on the wall. The glass shattered, and after a moment it recoiled in pain. It checked its paws and shook tiny flakes of metal from it. Anger seeded over its face, and it regained focus on me. The kid did say he was hungry, I thought to myself. I checked my surroundings for a way out. The basement was a one-way ticket to certain death. The only way was up. I slid over the island and raced for the staircase. The route took me within two feet of the monstrous wolf child, and it took a hard swipe at me with its deadly claws. They missed my head by inches, and I flew up the steps two at a time. I reached the upstairs landing and looked back. The wolf leapt the entire distance in one bound and smashed into the

drywall beside me. It tumbled into the spare bedroom. I slid into my bedroom as a drawer from the spare room chest was launched in my direction. The wolf ripped through the door in one powerful motion and tore through the tattered remains violently. I slammed the bedroom door shut, but I knew it was futile. The creature was impossibly strong and it would take mere seconds to get to me. I cut a glance at the bedroom window. It was a long way down into the backyard and parking lot. I placed the knife down on the bedside table and tossed my lamp aside. I undid the locks and yank the window up. I felt the buzz of my mobile phone in my front pocket. I fished for it instinctively like a dumbass. Hey Donnie, no, it's not a good time.

Whoa, you okay there, buddy? Sounds like a brawl. My neighbor said suspiciously. I hung up on him and grabbed the knife as the bedroom door was hacked at. Four long, jagged nails ripped through it with ease, slashing a set of two-foot gashes into the wood. The wolf's stare burned a hole into my brain as it hungrily set its sights on me. The doorknob fell limply to the carpet. The creature gently pushed the door open.

There was nothing between us now, but 15 feet of carpet and open air. This was my only chance, I thought. Macho, I'd forgotten about him in my rush to get away. He stood defiantly behind the wolf, verbally berating it for the intrusion. Large globs of drool poured from the open jaws of the wolf as it set its sights on my little puppy. Macho recoiled in fear and backed down the hallway towards the landing. He fell down the staircase hard, tumbling head over tail until he crashed onto the floor. I leapt at the opening and I plunged the kitchen knife into the back of the wolf.

The blade sunk deep into the flesh, and it didn't even flinch. It turned its head and it glared at me menacingly. My eyes bulged from their sockets as I realized I'd only made it angry. Thinking on my feet, I quickly removed the blade and began to stab the wolf in the back repeatedly. Large sprays of blood criss-crossed the room, finally acknowledging my attack. The creature backhanded me with its left paw and I crumpled against my bed. Macho took flight down the stairs. The wolf approached me.

It towered over me. I regained my composure as best I could, even though I felt like I'd been smacked in the head by a heavyweight boxer. Scambling over my bed. The wolf slashed at the mattress just a foot from me. It traversed the frame in one leap and slammed into the headboard, fracturing it. I skidded across the carpet and slid across my bathroom tile. The monstrous wolf was in hot pursuit now.

I didn't even bother closing the door this time. The beast lost traction on the tile and ran headlong into the shower, crashing through the wall. I backpedaled for a moment. I realized the beast had gone completely through to Donnie's town home. I peeked through the massive hole but couldn't see any sign of the creature. Hey Donnie, you there? I stuck my head through the shattered drywall and toppled brick. Bits of insulation fluttered across the floor like tumbleweeds.

Holy shit! I heard Donnie say from downstairs. An audible double bang shattered the eerie silence of the home as a shotgun discharged. Donnie screamed, a horrible blood-curdling scream. The scream was cut short. A long howl. Nope. Bye, Donnie.

Sorry. I muttered as I retreated back to my home. I hopped the staircase back to my den and scooped up Macho, who was crouched low behind the couch. Let's go, Macho. Time to leave. As I ran through the half-frozen kitchen, Macho in my arms, a flurry of leaves blew down the hall through my ruined door and frame. I stumbled to a halt in the hall as the wolf stepped into view on my sidewalk. It dragged a headless corpse by the ankle.

Donnie. His entrails had become X-trails dangling from his gutted torso across his chest. The monstrous thing stepped across the threshold again and pounced. It crushed me under its sheer weight. I held up my arms to defend myself as the gnashing teeth. teeth bore down upon me. It clamped down on my right forearm, separating the ulna and radius from the elbow. I screamed in pain, and I made the terrible mistake of trying to pull my arm away. The teeth sunk in deeper, and the thing lifted me off the ground. It shook its head side to side,

shaking me like a toy in the mouth of a vicious dog. It slammed me on the ground, and both sets of claws sunk into my back, tearing my skin. I laid on the ground, fully expecting to die. I saw my own reflection on the floor, albeit ruined and crooked, my eyes focused in, and I realized I was staring at the broken shards of the antique mirror the wolf had damaged earlier. It had recoiled from the mirror when it scratched it. But why? The wolf released me me from its grip and howled. And the answer slapped me in the face as I saw the ruined piece of faded metal. Silver. Old mirrors were backed in a thin layer of silver. My trembling hand slid through the chunks of glass. I winced as they riddled my hand in cuts, but I grasped

it eventually. I rolled over to see my attacker face to face. It snatched me up in both hands and lifted me high off the floor, and I rammed the small piece of silver between the ribs, targeting where the heart on a human would be. The deep blue eyes widened in surprise, and the beast stopped mid-grawl. The skin sizzled around the wound. It gasped and gagged a bit, but it didn't release me. I removed the shard, And I stabbed the wolf again. Each new hole burned and smoked and boiled blood fell out in chunky pieces. We both stumbled backwards out the door and tumbled down the staircase onto the sidewalk of my neighborhood. It released me, and I landed with a harsh thud on my back. The air

was forcefully expelled from my lungs, and I tried to regain my senses. The wolf landed beside me on its face, bleeding profusely. It whimpered like a dog in pain. I crawled to the wounded beast. The feet feebly twitched and stopped. I could hear the distant wail of a siren in the distance. I closed my eyes for a minute. A horrible, crunching sound began, but I was too exhausted to open my eyes and look. I gripped the silver in my hand tightly. But I didn't think I had the strength to fight any longer. After a long couple of minutes, it ended. I'm sorry, mister.

I was hungry. I peeked through one eye. To see I was staring at little Joseph Umsted. He was faced down on the cold ground. His eyes were open, but he didn't move. A pool of blood formed around his bed. body as he bled to death afoot from me. A screech of tires sounded somewhere nearby, but I faded to black, probably from blood loss.

I woke up more than a week later in a hospital, handcuffed to a bed. I was angry at first, but I couldn't do much. A concussion, shattered forearm, and more than a hundred cuts told me to stay put. After a day or so, I began to realize why I was cuffed to the the bed. A missing child was found dead next to me, the murder weapon in my hand. Donnie's headless corpse being nearby didn't help, but there were too many unexplainable things, the damage to my home, Donnie's home, and the injuries. I lied my ass off. I told them I couldn't remember anything. They eventually released me, and I went to stay in a hotel. I picked Macho

up from the animal shelter. He was so excited he peed on the floor when he saw me. That was where the excitement and happiness ended, though. The next day, he wouldn't come near me. He cowered in a corner and growled whenever I came by. No more cuddling, no more playing, no more going outside together. Three weeks after the attack, I started eating my steaks undercooked. Last night, I had five raw chicken breasts. I took macho to my parents' house and asked them to keep an eye on the little guy for a few days. No matter what I eat, no matter what I drink.

I'm constantly in pain. My stomach roils and groans for more. The full moon is tonight. I clean the entire fridge of everything edible. Please stay indoors tonight. I don't know what I'll be forced to do to satiate the hunger.