Solved Murders - True Crime Stories - The Thing in the Hedges A Blizzard, a Dog, and the Nightmare I Faced in New Zealand #69

Episode Date: August 27, 2025

#horrorstories #reddithorrorstories #ScaryStories #creepypasta #horrortales #newzealandhorror #winterterror #blizzardnightmare #paranormalencounter #dogrescue  Caught in the harsh grip of a New Zealand blizzard, the narrator and their loyal dog confront an unknown terror lurking in the hedges nearby. What starts as a routine winter walk turns into a chilling nightmare filled with mysterious sounds, unexplainable sightings, and an escalating sense of dread. This haunting story blends nature’s fury with supernatural fear, testing courage and survival instincts in an isolated, frozen landscape.  horrorstories, reddithorrorstories, scarystories, horrorstory, creepypasta, horrortales, newzealand, blizzard, dogencounter, paranormal, nightmare, winterhorror, isolated, supernatural, survival, fear, terrorinthehedges, chilling, mysterious, frostbite

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. Jampact 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. Collini, did you know if your age between 25 and 65?

Well, you can get a free HPV cervical check. It's one of the best ways to protect yourself from cervical cancer. And you know what? I actually checked only recently when mine was due and no exaggeration. It took me less than five minutes. You go online to hse.c.org slash cervical check. But in your PPS number, shake in the date of birth. And then they tell you when your next appointment is due.

Oh my God. I know. And you can check you're on the register on the website so you can phone [phone]. If your test is due today, you can book it today are hsccccc. i.e. 4 slash servical check. New Zealand is a beautiful country. It has a very similar appearance to the United Kingdom, but the Southern Island in particular is so sparsely populated that it's almost creepy.

Because the population is so small in the Southern Island, anyone can buy a mansion surrounded by acres of land for the same price as the average American home. It was beautiful beyond belief, but seeing so many massive homes with so few people or even cars on the road was chilling. When I went, it was purely for a friend reunion between my dad and his best friends from secondary school, and I wasn't sure what to expect when we got there, but it was, strange. We flew into Christchurch and one of my dad's friends my godfather, lived only an hour outside of the city. It was more of a village than a city.

He came to pick us up from the airport and we all drove to his house which I was expecting to be a standard three-bedroom two-bathroom home, but instead it was a six-bedroom, for bathroom house with a massive. kitchen, two living spaces, an octagonal foyer where the dogs slept, three patios, and a landscaped garden so massive that it would have taken me an hour just to walk the perimeter. He said they got it for cheap, but I definitely wouldn't complain. It was a gorgeous house. While all of the adults were settling into one of the living spaces, me and my brother decided to go explore the property. We get serious anxiety when we're not familiar with a structure we're staying in, so our first objective was to just map out the entire house and the surrounding gardens. It just makes us

more comfortable to know where we can go in the event of an emergency. The house was mapped within 10 minutes but the garden took me a lot longer. Because some of the bushes were planted at such off angles, it took me a while to really navigate it and figure out where everything was. Some of the hedges were only up to my waist but a few of them were as tall as the house and made for an eerily claustrophobic walk between them. I didn't think too much of it and once I had completely mapped the property in my mind, I returned to the house. My godfather's wife, technically my godmother, was just starting to make dinner and offer to let me make the dessert. I was pleased to help since it would be completely fresh and learning to make an apple pie

seemed like a fun skill to have. We made the pie and by the time dinner was actually done, the sun had long since set, engulfing everything outside of the house in a seemingly perpetual darkness. It was a little too dark. The adults were all having fun catching up with each other in a short time after dinner, they all decided that they wanted to go for a drink. My godfather has some good memories of drinking with my dad so they wanted to pull out those old memories again. My godmother wasn't particularly thrilled since that meant me and my brother would be left alone to take care of the house and the dogs, but I assured her that it would only be a few hours and that we could do it. It didn't take much convincing, but she did set a rule

that we were not allowed to let the dogs outside at all. I was okay with that since it was below zero and it was so dark that even with the motion activated lights, it still had so many dark corners and blind spots that I wouldn't feel comfortable even if I had to let the dogs out. They left and the dogs retired to their kennels on their own. We figured. We figured that that they would be okay so my brother and I planted ourselves on the sofa. The TV was turned on but neither of us were watching it since we were both on our phones. We didn't really talk that much since he was an onasty 13-year-old boy and I was the mature, 17-year-old sister messaging her classmates and friends on the other side of the world. It couldn't have been more than 30 minutes

after the adults left that all of the dogs started aggressively barking in the foyer. There were four of them and all of them were snarling and snapping at the front door. Naturally, the noise had caught both of our attention so we circled into the foyer to see what was up, and the largest dog, which I think was a great dain, was frantically scratching at the front door to get out. We were both confused and I went back into the kitchen to see out the window. If someone was at the door then it would have been obvious, but there was no one there. I didn't see anyone and since our family has never owned a dog, we just assumed they were barking at something small like a firefly or a moth. I went back into the foyer to help my brother put the dogs back in their kennels,

but the Dane's paw flicked the door handle and the icy wind threw it open. My brother and I both stopped to cover our faces from the large and sharp snowflakes now stabbing our skin and we both cursed as the dog ran out, but the other three stayed in the foyer, still barking a deafening warning throughout the entire house. Stay here. I'll get her. I called, shaking my phone so the flashlight would turn on and booked it into the snow-no shoes, socks, or anything even resembling winterwear. I was only wearing a thin pane of skinny jeans and then off-the-shoulder blouse. Over the wind, I could barely hear the dog already far in the distance, barking so loudly that it should have been easy to follow her. Originally I tried to stay on the lit gravel trails that surrounded the house, but I was a little bit of the dog already far in the distance, but I couldn't see the dog at all. I could hear her barking and I could see the trail in the snow that she had kicked up but the snow was...

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 met 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. 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 further terms apply Collini, did you know if your age between 25 and 65 Well, you can get a free HPV cervical check. It's one of the best ways to protect yourself from cervical cancer And you know what? I actually checked only recently when mine was due

And no exaggeration, it took me less than five minutes You go online to hsec.e.4 slash cervical check Put in your PPS number, check in the date of birth And then they tell you when your next appointment is due Oh my God, that's real And you can check her on the register on the website or you can phone [phone]. If your test is due today, you can book it today

are hsc.i.e. 4-slash cervical check. Coming down so heavily that her trail was almost completely buried in a matter of seconds. Looking at the hedges, I had a thought that if there really was someone out here that the dog was chasing, then there were so many places they could have been hiding

that it would have been physically easy for them to sneak up on me, especially over the noise of the wind. The goosebumps I had been, gotten on my arms from the cold didn't hold a candle to the goosebumps I got from stepping off of the trail. Every part of my body was screaming at me to just leave the dog and go back inside, but I may have been more afraid to explain to my godmother that I lost her dog. A ridiculous thought after the fact, but in the moment, it was just as scary.

Every step in the snow was colder than the last and with the greatest hesitation, I started looking between the waist-high hedges trying to listen in for the dog but the wind was throwing the barking sounds all over the place. One moment he was in front of me, the next he was behind me. It was confusing me and looking all around me had stilled my sense of direction. I could barely see the house and the barking was only getting quieter. My flashlight was dotting all of the place while my free hand held my hair back so it wasn't lashing at my face.

Calling the dog's name did nothing to help and as I finished searching around the smaller hedges, the dreading reality hit me so hard. The dog had gone into the tall hedges. If my survival instincts weren't panicking before, they definitely were now. Even pointing my phone's flashlight down the straight trail between the bushes, I couldn't see the end, even though my earlier mental mapping told me that it was only a 7 to 10 meter walk. It just narrowed into a black vortex that swallowed every ray of light from my flashlight. I swear when I took the first step forward, my heart physically rebelled against me,

drumming through my ribs so fast and so hard that I was feeling light-headed at the very idea of going in there. Every part of my soul hoped to God that the dog was still somewhere closer to the house, but this prayer immediately shattered when the dog's barking turned to terrified whimperes, directly in front of me. Far to close for comfort and I knew that the dog was right in front of me but over the blizzard-like weather, I couldn't see it at all. My hand pulled out of my hair to keep my heart from bursting out of my chest and I dared to step forward. The snow was already above my ankles and being barefoot, the immersion in this previously wintry paradise turned to an iced over hell's cape.

Never in my life had I experienced something that terrified me so much that the idea of even walking would rip my soul from my body. There were two conflicting trains of thought going through my mind, if I went forward to find the dog and someone was really was out here then I could get myself killed or kidnapped, and if I went back to the house then the person or whatever the dog was barking it could see my light retreat and chase after me. Neither option was favorable. I couldn't tell you why, but even with the dog whimpering I forced myself to move towards it. I kept my light directed at every inch of those shrubs and their diverging paths. Any place that I thought someone could hide, I lit up with the

best of my ability. And then a shriek so guttural yet so high-pitched that it caused the acid in my stomach to boil. My breathing became frantic as I shined the light around me, trying to figure out what had caused such an unnatural sound. It couldn't have been the dog. It may have been the shriek of a woman, but even this would have been a stretch to claim. It didn't sound like any animal I had ever even heard of, but as I pointed my light into once of the shrub corners the bush curled back. Something was climbing on top of it.

My light pointed at the top of the bushes, but I barely caught sight of a black shadow leap over the top of the hedges far bigger than any of the animals on the property, dog or otherwise. It was much larger than the dogs, but it was also bigger than any human I had ever seen. Breathing was suddenly labored and I regretted ever leaving the house, but as I followed where the bushes were moving, it stopped straight ahead of me. My light lit up the statue at the end of the narrow trail, a naked mermaid hugging her abdomen with her head cocked to the side. This was the statue I had seen earlier. But it didn't look like that now. In the minimal light, somehow it more closely resembled a contorted and screaming face, its jaw dislocated and hanging only from

one side with its neck snapped back at a critical angle. I swear I fainted on my feet. I couldn't hear the dog anymore. The snow was coming down harder than ever, but at this point, I didn't care about getting in trouble with my godmother or my parents. The flashlight stayed on the statue for two many long seconds and the same shadow flew past right behind the statue. I screamed bloody murder and just turned to run but the snow was disorienting and even as I tried to get out of the maze of hedges, I couldn't find my way. My light went every possible direction. There's so much rugby 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 played 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. Jampacked 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. And just trying to make sure that whatever I saw wasn't following me. It was impossible to tell. The Blizzard wouldn't allow me to see even 10 feet in front of me and it was so loud that even if that thing was following me, I couldn't hear it. And then a firm

grabbed onto my arm. My heart stopped and an all too familiar voice played through my ear, you big Jesse. Get inside before you get hypothermia. It was my brother. He was giving me his annoyed and irritated face as he moved to grab my arm, pulling me back towards the house. He couldn't see it either, but he remembered which route he took through the shrubs. It only took us about 30 seconds to find the trail again, at which point I just grabbed his hand and pulled him to run back inside, throwing the front door closed and locking it tight. What's wrong with you? He buzzed monotonously, crossing his arms. The Dane had run back to her kennel before we had arrived and was shaking violently. Please tell me you went out looking for the dog as well.

What? Did you leave the house to go look for the dog? He could see that I was freaking out and just rolled his eyes. No. I've seen horror movies before, so I decided to stay back and not follow the dog into a blizzard, at this point I was freaking out, looking out of the windows next to the door to make sure that I could see nothing but almost as soon as I looked, the outdoor light automatically turned off, swallowing the entire garden in complete darkness. He sighed, I only came out when I heard you scream. Why did you scream? I tried to explain what I had seen, but he just said I was hysterical and dismissed it. He tends to not believe me when I tell stories like this and it's not the first time I've seen something so unbelievable that nobody

else even considered the possibility that it was real. I was called a drama queen and a fantasist, but I don't even like horror movies or anything scary. I'm prone to nightmares. Why would I add fuel to the fire by coming up with something like this? My parents and godparents didn't believe me when I told them and my godfather specifically said, spooks tend to roam. That didn't help. I do believe in ghosts and spirits, but the ones that I have seen personally never physically interacted with my surroundings like this one did. It was easily the most terrifying thing that I had ever experienced, and after this day I vowed

to never get a dog. Dogs are cute and they're lovable, I admit it, but cats are infinitely smarter. If they see or sense danger, they run. They don't chase it down. I can be satisfied with only having cats in my life. At least they won't give me a panic attack while trying to chase them down, and most won't run out into dangerous weather. To this day, I still don't entirely know what happened in those shrubs or what I saw, but my brother promised me that he was in front of the house almost the entire time,

and my parents had taken pictures with my godparents at the pub that was 30 minutes up the road, sending it to us while they were still there, and still drinking. If it was a person, I don't know who it was, and if it wasn't a person then I have no idea what it was. A part of me doesn't ever want to know.