Solved Murders - True Crime Stories - The Drowned Man Follows Me in Every Reflection—And He Knows What I Did That Day #60

Episode Date: August 16, 2025

#horrorstories #reddithorrorstories #ScaryStories #creepypasta #horrortales #reflectionhorror #hauntingguilt #paranormalrevenge #waterphantom #psychologicalterror  After a fateful day by the water, the narrator is tormented by visions of a drowned man lurking in every mirror, window, and pool of water. As the haunting grows more intense, it becomes clear this isn’t just a ghost—it’s vengeance. The story unravels the terrifying price of guilt and what happens when the past refuses to stay buried.  horrorstories, reddithorrorstories, scarystories, horrorstory, creepypasta, horrortales, drownedman, mirrorhorror, waterghost, vengefulspirit, supernaturalhorror, terrifyingvisions, reflectionfear, urbanlegendhorror, hauntingpast, guiltandrevenge, creepyencounter, horrorpsychological, chillingstory, paranormalfear

There's so much rugby on Sports Extra from Sky. They've asked me to read the whole lad at the same speed I usually use for the legal bit at the end. Here goes. This winter sports extra is jam-packed with rugby. For the first time we've been every Champions Cup match exclusively live, plus action from the URC, the Challenge Cup, and much more. Thus the URC and all the best European rugby all in the same place.

Get more exclusively live tournaments than ever before on Sports Extra. Jampack with rugby. Phew, that is a lot of rugby. Get Sports Extra on Sky for 15 euro a month for 12 months. Search Sports Extra. New Sports Extra customers only. Standard Pressing applies after 12 months for the terms apply. Don't let foot pain or discomfort hold you back.

At foot Solutions, we specialize in high-quality supportive footwear. And use the latest scanning technology to custom-make orthotics, designed for your unique feet. If you want to free your feet in joints from pain, improve balance or correct alignment, book a free foot assessment at footsolutions.com. Or pop-in store today. Foot Solutions, the first step towards pain-free feet. I haven't looked at my own reflection properly in weeks. Not in a mirror, not in a shop window, not even in the dark screen of my phone before it lights up. Because when I do, he's there.

Standing right behind me. Watching. It started about a month ago, after the incident at the beach. I used to be a lifeguard. It wasn't a career, just a summer job to pay the bills. Most days were boring, kids running, people forgetting sunscreen, the occasional jellyfish sting. Routine stuff. But that day, that day was different.

There was an old man. He seemed confused, disoriented. He kept wandering towards the water, fully clothed. I'd gently guide him back towards his family, who seemed exasperated, explaining he had dementia. This happened a few times. I got busy with a kid who'd scraped his knee. Took my eye off the old man for maybe ten minutes, Max. That's all it took.

When I looked up again, he was out there. Way out. Beyond the breakers, where the water gets deep and treacherous. He wasn't swimming. He was flailing, his head bobbing under the waves, panic etched on his face. I blew my whistle, grabbed my float, and sprinted into the surf. The water was cold, the current strong. I swam as hard as I could, my arms burning, my lungs screaming.

But I was too late. By the time I reached the spot where I'd last seen him, he was gone. Just the empty, in different grey water. We searched for hours. His body washed up a mile down the coast the next morning. The guilt was, immense. Crushing. It was my job to watch.

to protect. And I'd failed. I hadn't noticed him in time. If I'd just been more vigilant. A few days after the funeral, it started. I was brushing my teeth, staring blankly into the bathroom mirror. And there he was. Not in the mirror, exactly, but behind my reflection. The old man. His skin was bloated and pale, the color of wet parchment. His eyes were hollow, dark pits. His clothes were soaked, clinging to his thin frame. And he was just, looking at me. Not accusingly, not angrily. Just, looking. Like he was waiting for something. I splashed water on my face, thinking I was over tired, stressed. But when I looked again, he was still there. Clearer, almost. It wasn't just the bathroom mirror. It was any reflective sort of. It was any reflective

surface. A puddle on the sidewalk after it rained. The shiny chrome of a car bumper. The dark surface of my morning coffee before I stirred in the milk. Every time I caught my own reflection, there he was, a silent, bloated passenger standing just over my shoulder. Always the same expressionless, hollow-eyed stare. Always looking right at me. I tried to ignore it. To tell myself it was just stress, a vivid manifestation. of my guilt. But he was so real. The way the waterlogged fabric of his shirt seemed to sag, the faint, almost imperceptible blue tinge to his lips. Details my mind shouldn't have been able to conjure so vividly. Sleep became a battlefield. I'd close my eyes and see him, floating in the

darkness behind my eyelids. I'd wake up in a cold sweat, convinced he was standing in the corner of my room, just out of sight. My appetite vanished. I lost weight. The world started to feel thin, unreal, like a poorly projected image. Eventually, I broke down and went to a psychiatrist. I felt like a fool trying to explain it. I keep seeing, the man who drowned. In reflections, the psychiatrist, a kind woman with tired eyes, listened patiently. She nodded a lot. She called it a, grief-induced hallucinatory manifestation. A fancy way of saying my guilt was making me see things. She prescribed some mild anti-anxiety medication and gave me some advice.

The most important thing, she said, her voice calm and reassuring, is to try and break the association. Avoid looking at reflective surfaces for a while. Consciously turn away. When the guilt starts to fade, when you begin to process the trauma, These, visions, they will lessen. They'll go away. It sounded too simple. But I was desperate.

So, I tried. I really tried. I covered the mirror in my bathroom with a towel. I avoided shop windows. I learned to shave by feel. I stopped drinking coffee from dark mugs. There's so much rugby on sports extra from Sky. They've asked me to read the whole lad at the same speed I usually use for the legal

bit at the end. Here goes. This winter sports extra is jam-packed with rugby. For the first time we've bet every Champions Cup match exclusively live, bus action from the URC, the Challenge Cup and much more. Thus the URC and all the best European rugby all in the same place. Get more exclusively live tournaments than ever before on Sports Extra. Jam-packed with rugby. Phew, that is a lot of rugby.

Get Sports Extra on Sky for 15 euro a month for 12 months. Search Sports Extra. New Sports Extra customers only. Standard-pressing applies after 12 months, further terms apply. Don't let foot pain or discomfort hold you back. At foot solutions, we special. in high quality supportive footwear and use the latest scanning technology

to custom make orthotics designed for your unique feet. If you want to free your feet in joints from pain, improve balance or correct alignment, book a free foot assessment at footsolutions.i or pop-in store today. Foot Solutions, the first step towards pain-free feet.

It was difficult, living in a world where I had to constantly avert my gaze from my own image, but I was determined to make him go away. For a week, it almost seemed to work. I wasn't seeing him, because I wasn't looking. The meds took the edge off my anxiety. I started to sleep a little better.

I thought, maybe she's right. Maybe this is just my mind playing tricks on me. And then things got so much worse. It was evening. I was walking home from the grocery store. The sun was setting, casting long, distorted shadows on the page. I glanced down at my own shadow stretching out in front of me. And he was there.

Not a reflection, but a shadow superimposed over mine, standing just behind it. And this time, there was something new. He seemed, closer. Not physically closer in the shadow, but the feeling of him was more intense, more present. Like he'd taken a step towards me in whatever spectral space he occupied. My blood ran cold. This wasn't just water reflections anymore. Over the next few days, it escalated.

I'd see him in the faint reflection on my TV screen when it was off. In the polished surface of a tabletop. In the glint of my own glasses if I caught them at the wrong angle. And every single time, he was a little bit closer. His shadowy form in my shadow was no longer just behind me, it was almost merging with mine. The feeling of his presence was becoming oppressive, a constant weight on my chest. The psychiatrist's advice had backfired spectacularly. Avoiding reflections hadn't made him go away.

It had made him, adapt. Spread. Like a stain. I stopped taking the medication. It wasn't helping. This wasn't a hallucination I could medicate away. This was something else. Something real.

And I realized something. Something I hadn't told the psychiatrist. Something I hadn't told anyone. The old man. When he was drowning. I hadn't been too late. That's the lie I told myself, the lie I told everyone. The truth is, I reached him.

I saw the panic in his eyes, felt his frail, desperate hands clawing at me as he fought for air. I had him. I could have pulled him in. I could have saved him, but I didn't. You see, being a lifeguard, it presents opportunities. People are vulnerable in the water. Unsuspecting. And I have, a hobby.

A very particular kind of hobby. It started a few years ago. A need. A curiosity. To see what it felt like. To watch the light go out of someone's eyes, knowing I was the cause. My first was a drunk who'd passed out too close to the Tide Line late one night. Easy.

Messy, but easy. After that, the guilt was, different. Not like this. It was a sharp, almost exhilarating thing. A secret power. And it faded quickly, especially after the next one. Each new experience, each new type of ending I orchestrated, seemed to cleanse the palate, so to speak.

The thrill of the new, the challenge, it pushed the old memories down. The old man with his dementia, his helplessness, he was a new type. So vulnerable. So trusting, even in his confusion. It was supposed to be, interesting. A new texture for my collection. I held him under, just for a moment longer than necessary. Watched the last bubbles escape his lips.

I let go and played the part of the grieving, failed lifeguard. This spectral presence, this constant, watery accuser, this had never happened before. With the others, there was nothing. Just the quiet satisfaction of a completed project. But him, he was clinging to me. Or I was clinging to him. I decided the psychiatrist was wrong, but maybe the underlying principle was right. I needed to break the association. But not by avoidance. By repetition. By overlaying this bad memory with a new one. A fresh experience.

That's what had worked before. That's how I'd managed the, lingering thoughts after the first time. I needed to get back on the horse, so to speak. So, I went back to the beach. Not the same one. A different one, a few towns over. I got my old lifeguard certification renewed. no questions asked. I needed to be in that environment. I needed the opportunity. For a week,

I sat in the chair, scanning the waves, my skin crawling. Every ripple on the water, every glint of sun, showed him to me. Still there. Still watching. Closer now. There's so much rugby on Sports Extra from Sky. They've asked me to read the whole lot at the same speed I usually use for the legal bit at the end. Here goes. This winter sports extra is jam-packed with rugby. For the first time we've got every Champions Cup match exclusively live, plus action from the URC, the Challenge Cup, and much more. Thus the URC and all the best European rugby all in the same place. Get more exclusively live tournaments

than ever before on Sports Extra. Jampack with Rugby. Phew, that is a lot of rugby. Get Sports Extra on Sky for 15 euro a month for 12 months. Search Sports Extra. New Sports Extra customers only. Standard Pressing applies after 12 months for the terms apply. Don't let foot pain or discomfort hold you back. At Foot Solutions, we specialize in high-quality supportive footwear. Use the latest scanning technology to custom-make orthotics designed for your unique feet.

If you want to free your feet in joints from pain, improve balance or correct alignment, book a free foot assessment at footsolutions.com or pop-in store today. Foot Solutions, the first step towards pain-free feet. His face almost touching my reflection's shoulder. His hollow eyes staring directly into mine. But I forced myself to look. To endure it. I was waiting. Then, I saw her. A young woman, swimming alone, far out from the shore, away from the crowds. She was a strong swimmer, but she was isolated. Vulnerable. Perfect. This was it. This would fix it. A new memory to overwrite the old. I stood up, grabbed my float,

my heart pounding with a familiar, dark excitement that almost drowned out the dread. I jogged towards the water's edge. This time, I wouldn't be too late. This time, I'd be perfectly on time. The first wave washed over my ankles. Cold. And then it happened. It wasn't a cramp. It wasn't a stumble. It was hands. I see, impossibly strong hands, erupting from the beneath the shallow water, clamping around my ankles like manacles. They were bone-chillingly cold, and their grip was like iron. I cried out, a strangled yelp, and looked down. There was nothing there. Just the water swirling around my legs. But the grip was real. It was pulling me down, pulling me towards the deeper water. Panic, raw and absolute, a kind I'd never experienced before,

exploded in my chest. This wasn't part of the plan. I thrashed, kicking, trying to break free, but the hands held firm, their grip tightening, dragging me deeper. The water was up to my knees, then my waist. I could feel the sandy bottom dropping away beneath my feet. I screamed, a real scream this time, not the performance I'd perfected. I clawed at the water, at the air, fighting against the invisible force that was trying to drown me. For a terrifying moment, I thought this was it. This was how it ended. The hunter becoming the hunted.

With a final, desperate surge of adrenaline, I threw myself backwards, towards the shore, towards the solid ground. The hands resisted for a moment, then, with a reluctance that felt almost like a sigh, they released me. I scrambled back onto the wet sand, gasping, coughing, coughing, my body trembling uncontrollably. I lay there for a moment, the sun beating down on me, the sounds of the happy, oblivious beachgoers a million miles away. Then, slowly, I pushed myself up and looked at the water. He was there, standing in the shallow surf, as clear as daylight.

Not a reflection. Not a shadow. Him. The old man. Bloaded, waterlogged, his clothes clinging to him. His hollow eyes were fixed on me. But this time, there was something new. Something that sent a sliver of ice straight through my soul. He was smiling. A wide, slow, knowing smile. A smile that said, I see you. I know what you are. And you're not getting away. It wasn't guilt. It wasn't a hallucination. It was him. He was real. And he wasn't just watching anymore. He was interacting. He was protecting others from me. I didn't wait. I didn't think. I just ran. I ran from the beach, from the water, from that smiling, dead man. I ran until I reached my car, and I drove until I reached my apartment. I'm here now. The towel is off the mirror. I can't avoid it anymore.

He's there, standing behind me. Closer than... I know what you're feeling and I was there too. I know you might think that there is nobody to talk to, but I promise that you're not alone. It was never your fault and you deserve support and healing in your own time. Whenever you're ready to talk, Dublin Rape Crisis Centre will be ready to listen. Call the 24-hour National Helpline on 1-800-78-8-8-8. There's so much rugby on Sports Exeter from Sky, they've asked me to read the whole lad at the same speed I usually use for the legal bit at the end.

Here goes. This winter sports extra is jam-packed with rugby. For the first time, we've been every Champions Cup match exclusively live, plus action from the URC, the Challenge Cup and much more. Thus the U.S.C and all the best European rugby all in the same place. Get more exclusively live tournaments than ever before on Sports Extra Jam packed with rugby

Phew, that is a lot of rugby Get Sports Extra on Sky for 15 euro a month for 12 months Search Sports Extra New Sports Extra Customers Only Standard Pressing applies after 12 months Further Terms apply On the many days of Christmas The Guinness Storehouse brings to thee

A visit filled with festivity Experience a story of Ireland's most iconic beer In a stunning Christmas setting At the Guinness Storehouse Enjoy seven floors of interactive exhibitions And finish your visit with Brett taken views of Dublin City from the home of Guinness.

Live entertainment, great memories, and the gravity bar. My goodness is Christmas at the Guinness Storehouse. Book now at ginnestorehouse.com. Get the facts, be drinkaware. Visit drinkaware.aweer. Ever. His smile is gone,

replaced by that same, patient, hollow-eyed stare. But now I understand it. It's not blame. It's a promise. What do I do? How do I get rid of? of him. I can't go back to the beach, I can't go near the ocean. But what if that's not enough? What if, like before, he adapts? What if he starts appearing not just in reflections, but in the

room with me? What if those hands aren't confined to the water? I thought I was the predator. I thought I was in control. But I was wrong. I'm haunted. I'm marked. The end.