These chilling encounters are freaky enough to have your hair standing on end. They prove that oftentimes, your gut feeling was right all along: danger was imminent and you escaped with seconds to spare. Whether it's the stranger in the dark alley or the "good guy" in sheep's clothing, close calls are cautionary tales.
1. Dog’s Best Friend
My first semester at university, I got stuck taking all night classes and didn't get out until about 10:00 PM most evenings. I then would walk from the campus to the New Jersey transit station. Not too far a walk, but it starts to feel spooky in that area at night and I wasn't 100% sure where I was going since I was still new to the school.
So here I am, already a little on edge, when all of the sudden I hear a sound that will haunt me until the day I die. There was someone barking at me. That's right, barking. I look up and discover a man sitting up in the tree barking and growling down at me as I walk by. I was freaked out, but afraid that if I ran it might provoke him to follow me. So, I speedwalked to the corner, then ran across the street and didn't stop till I was at the train platform.
2. Avoid The Barn
When I was about five or six years old, my mom and sister boarded their horses at a barn and I would occasionally go with them. My friends would occasionally come as well, and we would explore the woods surrounding the barn. One time, we were a bit of a way out in the woods by a small creek playing with our pocket knives when my friend pointed across the creek.
I looked across and there was this man, probably in his 30s, but I really couldn't tell. He had very long dark matted hair, ripped-up clothes wrapped around him, and no shoes. He straight-up looked like a caveman. He stared at both of us with his mouth hanging open. I just remember his blank stare and his wrecked teeth pointing in every direction. We stared at each other for a solid ten seconds, but it felt like an hour. My friend and I both took off running back to the barn and we told my mom. A few months later, a kid ended up disappearing in that same area. I'll never forget that guy.
3. Cornstalking
A few years ago, my wife and I went to a haunted corn maze a couple days before Halloween. We'd been drinking a little bit so we managed to get very lost. We had wondered around for about 20 minutes when this weird looking guy starts following us around. We made a turn and ended up at a dead end. When we turn around to find another way the guy was right behind us.
He looked at both of us and said, in the most terrifyingly calm voice, "Some psycho could come here and hurt people, everyone would just think it's part of the show". He scared the heck out of us. I have no idea if the guy worked for the maze or what, but we got out of there by cheating and walking through the walls of the maze.
4. The Laughing Bush
Years ago, I used to work as an ecological surveyor. Basically, the government paid me to take long walks in Peak District National Park here in the UK and note down all the plant species I saw. Tough gig, I know. But actually, there were times when it was a pretty lonely and scary job. Being out there by myself, things got dicey at times.
I was walking down a trail one morning along the edge of the woodland. Suddenly, the most unexpected thing happened—eight of the bushes stood up—I kid you not. I nearly fouled myself right then and there. The next thing I knew, the bushes started laughing hysterically at me. Turns out, it was a bunch of British Army guys on a camouflage and concealment exercise.
They had been following me the whole time to practice their skills. Apparently, I had nearly trodden on one of them as he was hiding right by the trail. I had no idea. We all ended up sitting around talking about football for a bit. They were a nice bunch of guys but it was a very scary moment indeed.
5. Take Me By The Hand
When I was about six, I was with my family at an incredibly crowded street festival we used to go to every year. I remember we had stopped to watch a band play. It was just for a minute or two; not more, I’m sure of it. Then, my mom took my hand and we continued walking through the festival.
After a few seconds, I realized the hand I was holding was puffy and hot. My mom’s hands were always cool and slenderer, so I knew it wasn’t her hand I was holding. When I looked up, my face went white. It was a woman with long blond hair and sunglasses grinning down at me. I said, "You’re not my mom," and she just laughed and said, "That’s okay, you can come with me anyway!"
Obviously, my mom and dad had realized I was not with them and they were freaking out. My dad just happened to look exactly in the right direction at right time and he saw the lady leading me away through a break in the crowd. He ran over to us, grabbed her shoulder, and she dropped my hand. Like a ghost, she disappeared into the crowd.
I still can’t believe he spotted us. It was packed shoulder-to-shoulder at that festival and that lady was just walking away with me.
6. Teen Titans To The Rescue
I was traveling home to California from Nevada. It was for an emergency, so I packed and left at around midnight. At about five-thirty in the morning or so in rural Nevada, I was at a stop on my usual route. I was very familiar with the area, so I knew I was just an hour or so before the California border.
As an extra precaution, I carry a concealed weapon—I have my extended permit which allowed me to carry it concealed through several states, except California. I was my truck disassembling and putting it away to be in compliance. If I had only known that I was going to need it, I would have been loading it, not taking it apart.
Anyway, I stepped out to go to the restroom and someone had managed to get close to my truck. They were hiding along the passenger side and I hadn’t noticed them until it was too late. When I walked past this person, my worst fears came true—whoever it was, they grabbed me from behind. I let out the loudest, most blood-curdling scream. An Oscar-winning scream.
It didn’t matter how loud I screamed though because there were no other people at the stop. I fought and tried to buck the guy off of me, but I wasn’t doing very well. When I tried to kick him, he just lifted me off the ground where I couldn’t get him. I’m not sure how long I was screaming and fighting, but at some point, I heard tires screech.
I figured it was the creepy van my parents told me to avoid as a kid coming to take me away. Nope. It was a Toyota Corolla full of local teenagers headed to the gas station before school. The teens jumped out and ran towards us while the driver stayed in the vehicle. The guy who grabbed me ended up taking off.
Two of the kids chased him through the desert beyond the gas station on foot while the driver and the other kid made sure I was alright. Those teens saved me. I send those four boys Christmas and birthday cards every year. I just shudder to think what would have happened if they hadn’t come along.
7. Car Trouble
I was about 10 years old when this happened. I was going back home from the park with my sister. Being the stubborn younger sibling, she purposely walked 20 meters ahead so that nobody would think we were together. She rounded the corner and, a second later, I heard a blood-curdling scream.
I never covered 20 meters so fast in my life. When I rounded the corner, there was a man holding my sister by her throat, dragging her into an opened car parked nearby. When he saw me advancing and yelling incomprehensibly—I honestly don’t know what I yelled, I was so scared out of my wits—he realized that we were together. He dropped my sister, jumped into the car, and drove off.
She had fingerprint-shaped bruises on her throat for days.
8. Bloody Trail
Me and my boyfriend came back at like 2 am from a night out. We were both quite tipsy and stumbled into the hallway to the elevator when we see drops of something on the floor—and when I realized what it was, I felt ice in my veins. It definitely was blood. Fresh and wet. The elevator button and door were covered in bloody hand prints as well.
My boyfriend called the elevator, pushing me aside not knowing what would be in it. Luckily there was nothing except for a puddle of blood. The elevator came from the fifth floor. So, we went investigating. The trail of blood ended at a door with huge hand smears of blood on the door. It took all our courage to ring. But I am so glad we did.
An elderly man opened the door. He looked like straight out of a horror movie covered in blood from head to toe. His grey sweater was red. His hair was wet. His shoes were filled with blood. We immediately sobered up. I called an ambulance which arrived in two minutes. My boyfriend went inside the flat helping the man sit down. There was so much blood, I had never seen anything like that in my life.
We didn't know what happened to him until we met him properly for the first time. He recognized my boyfriend’s glasses. He was hammered, wanted to ride his bike home, crashed somehow, and got a huge cut on his head. He takes heart medicine which thins his blood that's why he lost so much. If we wouldn't have rung the doorbell, he would have bled out. He actually gave us money and a super expensive bottle of champagne to thank us for investigating and saving his life.
9. Kitchen Encounter
There’s an abandoned hotel near where I live. It closed about 10 years ago and it’s been knocked down now sadly. I went in with my friends when it was still up when we were about 12 and we snuck in for like the 1,000th time. We went into the old kitchen, but this time it was different. There was this guy in there with his back turned to us, wearing a parka.
He looked about 20 and he just slowly started turning around, one foot at a time. When he turned around fully, he was wearing one of those cheap theater masks. We booked it and I cut my leg on the fence we climbed through. When we got about half a kilometer away my friend just started crying because he was so shocked.
Looking back, I think that guy was just exploring and heard us and decided to scare us, but still it was awful.
10. The Principal
My high school's assistant principal was busted for being part of a child ring. The news said there were images of children as young as toddlers involved, but he seemed to specialize in adolescent girls. That's not even the messed up part, though—the kids he targeted were the same age as the kids at the high school where he worked. Thinking that he was probably looking at us with creepy intent makes me feel so disgusted. Before he got caught, he had this squeaky-clean image. The popular kids liked him. He had helped some religious students start up our school's chapter of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes. Most of the students and staff were shocked.
11. The Homeless Hero
I was eleven when this happened. I was at the park with my cousin who was three, and being a stubborn three-year-old, he told me to just leave him be so he could play with the other kids. So, I sat out on the bench and kept a watchful eye on him. I should have been paying more attention to who was watching me.
I was reading my book and occasionally looking up to check on my cousin. Out of nowhere, some fifty-year-old man sat down next to me and started talking. I didn’t make much of it at first because he seemed harmless. He kept asking me which kid was mine and that started to creep me out because I was obviously too young to have kids.
I made it quite clear to this guy that I was uncomfortable, but he just kept talking to me. And then he tried it—he got really close to me and was like, "Do you want another one?" That’s when I really started to freak out. Just then, this homeless guy—who would later become a pretty good friend of mine named Marty—pulled me off the bench.
He must have seen that something wasn’t right. He said the creep was lucky that he didn't "pop his jaw". I’m still friends with Marty today and I'm grateful that he showed up when he did. One stranger saved me from another.
12. Prison Is Dangerous
I worked in a behavioral management unit in a maximum-security prison for a couple of years. It’s a unit that houses borderline personality disorder cases, as well as the most disruptive inmates in the DOC. We had an inmate who was in prison for burning down a building with a bunch of people in it after one of the residents sold his girlfriend some bad substances.
He ended at least one of their lives, but I don’t remember much of the particulars. This inmate was usually polite, courteous, hard-working; everything you’d want from an inmate. He would watch Jeopardy! most nights and I would be blown away by his ability to answer most of the questions correctly. Then, suddenly he wouldn’t be okay.
The most minor slight or transgression towards him would trigger something inside him. He would shut down and become incredibly violent. He even looked forward to the acts that he committed. It happened intermittently, but whenever he had an episode, he was a force to be reckoned with. We never had it out, but whenever I spoke to him, it was like he had programmed responses that were designed to be exactly what I wanted to hear.
Then there are his eyes—at the prison, you often hear the saying "nothing behind the eyes"...he was the only one I ever really felt had captured that. His glare felt dangerous, and I can’t really compare it to anything I’ve ever experienced before or since. He made it through the program...eventually. At one point, they asked him which prison he would like to transfer to.
He chose one that had a particular staff member that crossed him too many times years and years back. He was going there to end that person's life. He waited years for the opportunity. Luckily, he slipped up and someone caught on before he could make it there. Without a doubt, he is the most dangerous person I have ever met. I know for a fact that if he had the opportunity, he wouldn’t hesitate to kill me. I am so glad he’ll never see the streets again.
13. Straight Shooter
I was at a bookstore with my parents looking for some books on skyscrapers. This was a just a few days after a mass shooting and this old guy sitting at a table at the cafe looks up at me as I was walking by and said something so disturbing it’s impossible to forget: "You see how you're walking around like that? That's what those people were doing when they were all shot".
14. Cash Me Outside
I used to work at a restaurant when I was 16. I was working a super late shift when we had this weird customer come in. The guy just wouldn't leave. He was like 30 and just stared at me the entire time as he ate his food. It went on for two whole hours. When he finally came up to the cash to pay, he was super weird about it.
I said, "Okay here's your price," and he paused and said, "Do I get a discount?" I was like, "No. Will you be paying cash or card?" He replied, "Cash". Then he just stared at me while I waited for him to hand me his cash. After like two minutes of this weird interaction, I gave him his money and the receipt, but he didn’t leave.
So, I said, "Have a good night," to make him go away. Super awkwardly, he blurted out, "Can I go now?" and I was like, "Yup!" That's when he uttered the words that finally made me lose it. "Am I pestering you? Why don't I take you home and pester you there?" I knew I had to get out of that situation, so I walked to the back room where I got my co-worker to deal with him.
Apparently, my co-worker scolded that guy and said it was shameful he would say that to a minor. The guy managed to creep out my co-worker when he said, "Well then, can I take you home?" What a creep.
15. Fear Creeps Up
I worked as an EMT for four years. One time, my partner and I were sent out to an extremely sketchy hotel to pick up a patient for PD. Basically, this guy had been confronted by the authorities for something and he was now swearing up and down that he had chest pain to buy himself some time. An ambulance crew had to be dispatched to take him to the hospital in restraints, and an officer had to sit with him there until he was cleared.
When we arrived, he was crying loudly, sitting on the sidewalk between two officers. I took exactly one look at him and I was terrified. I could feel my heart rate jump and my hands start to shake. My larger male partner said he'd sit in the back with him. The guy was crying as we put him on the gurney and restrained him (this was protocol—if you're charged with something or are a potential danger to us, you get soft restraints tying your wrists and ankles to the gurney).
He sobbed loudly, talking about how much his chest hurt and how he didn't even do anything. My partner at the time, being better than the rest of us, was polite, professional, and kind. The moment the authorities were out of sight and he was shut in the back of the ambulance for the ride to the hospital, it was like a switch flipped.
His face was utterly, perfectly neutral. He stopped making any noise at all. I will never forget the way he looked at my partner. I've read a lot of books talking about a "calculating" gaze but I'd never seen one before. So, a couple of weeks later, we found out why he was being charged: He had flung bleach into the eyes of a cashier for "disrespecting him". She was now permanently blind. If you're scared of someone for no reason, there's probably still a reason.
16. Walker Creepy Ranger
I dropped my son off at school one morning and then went to the grocery store with my infant daughter. It was so early that there were only a few other customers in the store. There was an older man with a walker that I didn’t really pay too much attention to, except that he kept popping up in the same aisle as us.
I got out to my car and put my groceries in. Then, when I was putting my daughter in her car seat, the man came up behind me. He asked me a question and when I turned to answer him, he did the most unimaginable thing—he shoved his walker into the back of my legs pinning me against my car inside the open door. I tried moving around but couldn’t go anywhere except forward. He then started pushing me down to the floor of my car.
I was so scared that he was going to go for my daughter, so I threw myself over her so my whole upper body was in her car seat and wedged myself in tight trying to cover as much of her as possible. He grabbed me by the hair and was trying to pull me up when someone started honking their car horn.
Another mom had been sitting in her car with her own baby asleep and had seen what was happening. Another car pulled up behind mine and the man ran over getting in quickly, obviously never needing the walker. We called the authorities but when the officers ran the plates on the car that he left in, they found out that the car’s owner had reported it missing.
I never found out who that guy was. I’m not even sure if he was actually an old guy.
17. Parking Lots At Night
I was in a store picking up some items for my house when I noticed a man was literally peeking at me from around a corner. I brushed it off at first and continued my shopping, but I was aware that this man was following me around the store. He then came up to me and said I looked familiar. He asked if I went to the local university.
I told him that I didn’t and at that point, I got creeped out, so I checked out and went to my car. I heard footsteps behind me and knew he had followed me, so I just jumped in my car and locked the doors. But my nightmare was far from over—it was dark, so I hadn’t noticed when he went around the back of my car until he banged on my passenger’s side window.
I ignored him as he banged on the window and just started the car. That prompted him to run around the front and start banging on my driver’s side door. I was terrified and just pulled out of the parking space as fast as I could. The guy literally chased my car until I rounded a corner.
I have no idea what his plan was, but to this day, I am nervous being in dark parking lots at night.
18. A Pool Of Strangers
I had a really weird day because of two different strangers. When I was around ten or eleven, a friend of mine invited me to a water park. We were swimming in a wave pool when he found some random kid around our age. He decided to tell this kid that the game we were going to play involved holding me down in the water. I didn’t get the memo that it was a game.
I thought they were just trying to drown me. This went on for what felt like an hour of me swimming away and hiding. I didn’t hang out with him afterward. Terrifying as that experience was, it was nothing compared to what happened next. That water park was overflowing with stranger danger.
After we left the pool, I went to the changing rooms. There were a couple of other people in there. Some old man on the bench asked me if I wanted him to help me change. I just said, "No thanks," quickly changed (without any help), and ran out.
19. Stranger Station
I was in Paris, at the train station that takes you to the airport. My flight was very early in the morning, so I planned to stay at the station until five in the morning and then go to the airport. This dude that I didn’t know started talking to me. He was very friendly at first. He even praised my French and made small talk.
Then he asked me where I was from and I totally lied because I wasn’t about to give a total stranger all of my information. He asked me if I was going to the airport and I said that I was, early in the morning. At some point, I realized another guy was kind of circling us, keeping an eye on our conversation. For some reason, this gave me a bad vibe.
I was kind of far away from the other people because I was using a machine to buy tickets and several of them were not working. I started walking towards the entry where there were more people, but this guy followed me and was still trying to talk with me. The other guy continued to follow us and that’s when I knew that something was wrong.
The guy talking to me said, "Do you know that the station closes in like 15 minutes?" I wasn't able to hide my surprise. He told me they didn't close before, but due to the number of vagrants, they started locking up at night. He tried to touch my arm but I pulled away. My situation was getting really dangerous really fast.
He said, "You don't want to spend the night here. It’s a dangerous neighborhood and a pretty lady like you...one can only imagine what is going to happen to you". He offered to go to a hotel with me. I was looking at the reflection of the glass wall and realized that the other dude was getting closer to us. At that moment, I was certain that they were going to abduct me.
Then, my guardian angels intervened. I heard this Spanish-speaking lady somewhere nearby (I’m Spanish-speaking). I looked at her and she was with her two adult children. I almost cried. She was Mexican and for some reason, I was convinced she was going to help me. I walked towards her and said very fast a low in Spanish that those guys were harassing me.
She seemed to understand exactly what my situation was and said that we should stay together. I spent the rest of the night with her and her adult children until the train station opened again the next morning. I'm forever grateful to her and her family. They saved me.
20. The College Creep
I knew a guy in college who would befriend attractive single women, but only one at a time. He'd then make it his mission to become their "best friend". While he was with them, he'd be super kind and loving; always flirty but never crossing the line, to the point where he seemed to win them over without ever asking them out.
While he was with his guy friends, however, he'd openly talk about his fantasies of doing stuff to people, particularly women. On two separate occasions, I remember a group of us approaching the woman he was currently hanging out with and asking her to be careful. She just brushed us off and told us we were being ridiculous, and at one point she actually became furious that we would mischaracterize him like that.
I'll never forget her saying: "We spend all night cuddling and talking. I know him better than anyone and he would never say that!" Then, the next day, he'd start joking about how funny it would be to push a woman down the stairs and watch her head split open on the pavement. Eventually, he stopped hanging out with us; I assumed because he caught on that we were messing up his "game". As far as I know, he never actually did harm any of these women, but it was terrifying how he seemed to get off on knowing that he could.
21. My Cousin In A Camper
One time, my sister and her friends were walking on the sidewalk when they had a potentially dangerous situation. This creepy-looking panel van came down the street. It slowed down and the driver began yelling something at them that they couldn’t make out. Instead of waiting to get abducted—or worse—they ran home and told my mom.
But the worst was yet to come—about 30 minutes later, the van pulled into our driveway and my sister started to freak out. She was convinced that this creepy panel van had somehow found out where we lived and that they were coming for her. And then my cousin got out. Turns out, he had just bought a used camper van and just wanted to offer them a ride home.
My mom was proud that my sister and her friends did the right thing though. She obviously didn't even look at the driver or she would have recognized him. She did the right thing and just got out of what could have been a bad situation.
22. Quiet Reading Interruption
I had a deeply disturbing encounter with a stranger once. This random dude at my local library accosted me while I was enjoying a new sci-fi novel, but the reason was more disturbing than the action. This guy was absolutely convinced that I was his son. He kept telling me he was sorry and that he never meant to "off" my mother who he kept calling "Pink". He said a bunch of other heinous stuff that I won’t describe.
He was obviously off his rocker, but the scariest part of it all was that while he was saying all of this creepy stuff, he actually sounded so rational and calm. That experience gave me the creeps for a long time after that. I’ll never look at the library the same way.
23. The Shower Intrusion
I was taking a shower in the bathroom of my walkout basement. My three-year-old son was upstairs with my mother eating breakfast. I heard him open the door and told him, "Mommy is in the shower, you have to wait". The door didn't close but he didn't respond either, so I asked him to go back upstairs and ask grandma for whatever he needed.
Instead, I saw a shadow and the outline of a hand touching the shower curtain. I got chills up my spine—I suddenly realized that there was an adult in the bathroom, not my son. I screamed and punched through the shower curtain. I don't think I connected, but I heard the man run out anyway. As fast as I could, I jumped out and grabbed a towel to check on my son and mom.
At the same time, my mom was coming downstairs to see if I was OK—she had heard me scream. The man never went upstairs and they didn't even know what had happened. The walkout basement door and window were wide open. I called 9-1-1 but they couldn’t find whoever it was who had come into my home. They did, however, find my empty wallet about a block away.
They came back to me a few weeks later to let me know that they caught a guy in the area accosting women and they think it was the same guy. I’d never been so scared in my life. The most visceral part for me was knowing he was just standing quietly in the bathroom while I talked to him like he was my son. Honestly, I don't know why but that creeps me out the most.
24. The Courier
My roommate and I ordered some food on one hot, summer day. When the courier came, we went to the door to pay for the food. Right when we got there, we saw a man running in the apartment half-dressed. His skin was red as if he had just played with some red dye. As we were paying, I happened to meet with him eye to eye. I somehow felt really terrible as if I was in serious danger. He ran back to the garden, while my friend and I went back to our apartment. Later on, we learned that he had used a blade on a man seven times on a nearby street. Basically, we were neighbors. I couldn't walk alone in the streets for some time.
25. Past Acquaintances
There was this guy I was involved with almost eight years ago. He wasn't Prince Charming, but he had a way of making people feel so safe and comfortable. We met on an online forum. Even though we did get close, I wasn't down for a long-distance relationship. Still, I trusted him—we talked daily and flirted even. It wasn't until he realized we would only ever be flirty friends that things drastically changed. At that point, everything turned upside down.
We stayed friends for a bit, and during that time, he was seeing another girl. He would tell me how they would cuddle all night and how the whole time, he was having extremely disturbing fantasies about her. Not quite as violent as what you mentioned, but still. When I told him to leave me alone, he threatened to blackmail me and coerce me into performing his fantasies. He also said he would find me in real life. Luckily, he doesn't have my real name (I go by a fake surname online) and I immediately blocked him on everything. Honestly, I still think about him almost daily, and sometimes I still worry that he'll reappear in my life somehow.
26. Flash And Run
I was walking home once when I was 18. It was late at night, so it was really dark outside. I was walking past a bus stop when the bus pulled up. A man—he appeared to be in his 40s—got off the bus. When he saw me, he opened up his coat and said, "Like what you see?" He wasn’t asking me whether or not I liked his outfit—beneath his coat, he was in nothing but his birthday suit.
I ran home so fast.
27. Wrong Person
I was jogging on the greenway, and a stranger ran up and grabbed me from behind in a chokehold. He dragged/carried me into some bushes, where we fell together. I am tiny and I was terrified. We struggled for a moment, and he stood up while I was on the ground. I said, "Please don't do this. I have two kids".
For some reason, I was certain he was going to kill me. I think I had that idea because I couldn't breathe when he grabbed me, so I assumed he meant to choke me. In retrospect, I'm not sure that's true. He put his hands in his waistband like he was going to undo his pants, and then he suddenly said, "Oh my god! I thought you were someone else".
I was so freaked out, I said, "That's okay, please just go". He said, "Oh my god!" one more time, and then ran off. I flagged down a cyclist who walked with me to find a cop. They never found the guy. It's the biggest unsolved mystery of my personal experience. Did he mean to hurt me? Did he get cold feet? Did he think I was someone else that he meant to hurt, like an ex? Did he think I was someone else that he meant to do some kind of freaky consensual play with? Because I am small-statured, did he think I was a child? Did he suddenly recognize me and change his mind?
It has been 6 or 7 years since. I realize I'll never know what he was thinking. I'm a hopeless optimist, so I like to imagine that he went home, freaked out, and never offended again. But who knows?
28. Photo Evidence
When I was 12, my family and I went to Sam's Club. Being a little jerk, I decided that I didn't want to walk with my family, so I wandered around looking at clothes and books. An employee kept watching me like staring really bad. I figured he thought I was going to swipe something, so I smiled at him so he knew I wasn't Bad™. He smiled back.
He kept checking me out though, and asked me how old I was. We talked about my favorite books and video games. I remember being uncomfortable but couldn't figure out why, because he was super nice to me. I remember wondering if he was flirting with me, but reasoned that he couldn't be, because I'm a boy. Really weird conclusion to come to, but I was 12.
I genuinely thought he was just interested in my favorite video games. The conversation fizzled down and I decided I needed to pee, so I went into the bathroom. Less than ten seconds later and the restroom door opens. The guy stands in front of my stall, even though there were empty ones. I recognized the guy's shoes as the employee's.
I stand there for a couple minutes, done, but really confused and kind of scared. I thought he followed me because he thought I was stealing. What happened next was so disturbing it’s impossible to forget. Then the guy held a camera over the stall door and took a picture of me. Like really quick, one or two pictures of me just standing there looking up at the camera. I had all of my clothes on so he was just taking a picture of me in the bathroom.
Someone else came in and he immediately went to the sink and started washing his hands like he'd just finished using the bathroom. Then he left. It was really creepy. I didn't tell my mom anything except that "the Sam's Club guy thinks I'm stealing". And she laughed. I realized way later that he was a total creep.
29. Just Like In The Movies
I was at this run-down movie theatre we had in town. It was the only one we had at the time and it was pretty bad. It had turned into a place where the bad crowd went to hang out. Who knew that gangsters were such cinephiles? Anyway, I walked up to the booth to pay for my ticket. I was trying to mind my business and ignore the seedy characters.
One random guy approached me, however, and asked, "Want to buy some stuff?" By the look of him, I knew the guy wasn’t selling your average theater concessions. I tried to be polite and said, "No, thanks". The dude got in close to me and pulled out a blade. "Don’t tell anyone," he said and then he walked away.
30. Not A Word
I worked at a truck stop when I was in high school. One night, a trucker came in and stared at me for a long time. Wherever I moved to, his eyes tracked me down. I told him that if he needed anything that he would need to come to the counter and order it. He just grunted and kept staring. I'm not a small person and at that time I was in football, wrestling, and track.
I was also at the gym six days a week. I was 190 pounds of muscle and teenage hormones. But the vibes I was getting from this guy were making me nervous. I called up my other co-worker and told them I was going to be in the freezer for a while. I started stocking the freezers for a while and then went to the bathroom. That's where things got really creepy.
As I entered the bathroom the trucker jumped up and walked in behind me and just stood in there while I did my business and washed my hands. As soon as I got out, I grabbed the trash bags and made a bee-line outside to take care of the trash at the pumps until he left. My co-worker asked me why the trucker kept following me after I finally came in.
I had no idea why. He never said anything. Didn't order anything. Just filled up his semi and crept on me. I've never been as creeped out by a person as I was with that guy.
31. Creepy As They Get
My wife held the door for a guy who, just a few months later, did something totally unspeakable. abducted two young girls who were walking home from school. He ended the life of one girl at some hog confinement, but luckily the other one got away. She said that he had completely black eyes like a shark and every hair on her body stood up when she saw him.
32. A Friendly Game
A very cheerful guy approached me and my friend in a park one day. He was very non-threatening at first—even friendly, I’d say. He was holding a frisbee and explained he was putting together an impromptu game of Ultimate Frisbee. It actually sounded like it would be quite a bit of fun...but his demeanor changed as we mulled over his offer.
Out of nowhere, he did something I could have never prepared for—he tried to grab me by the throat. It was such a sudden change of mood that it took me completely off-guard. My friend (an athletic dude, fortunately) got between us and just stared him down as he ran away. The whole thing was just bizarre.
33. Meet The Parents
I went to a yard sale with my aunt when I was like five or so. A little boy, about the same age as me, approached me and told me to come inside to meet his dad. I wandered off with him without my aunt noticing and he brought me into the house where the yard sale was taking place. I was young and naïve so it didn’t seem that odd to me. I thought the kid wanted to play, but I was so, so wrong.
Anyway, we went down to the basement and I got the shock of a lifetime. The kid’s dad was lying on a couch in the basement…completely unclothed. Not only that, but he looked "excited" to see me. He greeted me as if he'd been waiting. I actually don't remember much after that. I just got out of there as fast as possible.
It's been a strange memory of mine ever since.
34. Blood And Mud
About ten years ago, I was taking my girlfriend home around midnight. We were driving on a very rural backroad in northern Georgia. I was half asleep at the wheel when this lady ran out from the woods in front of my truck, screaming, "Help me!" I slammed on my breaks and rolled my window halfway down. That’s when I saw the shocking sight—she was covered in blood and mud.
She reached her hands into my cab and grabbed my neck as hard as she could. I took off just a little down the road and found a crowd of distraught people outside their house. I figured it was probably related. They asked if I had seen anyone and I told them that I nearly ran over some crazy lady just a few moments ago.
Well, turns out she had been released from an asylum that day and had went after her mother (she showed me the stab wound on her shoulder). Later, I drove back and there were a dozen squad cars lit up at the house. Creepy.
35. A Little Car Trouble
I was walking home after a late shift. It was around three or four in the morning. The streets of Seattle were mostly empty except for a few homeless people milling around. All of a sudden, a guy came out of an alleyway and asked me to help him out with his car. I told him, "Nope," explaining that I wasn’t mechanically inclined anyway.
He persisted, but I just kept reiterating that I couldn’t help him. It was starting to get pretty uncomfortable...until the best thing happened. A huge homeless dude came around and got in his face, telling him that I had already said, "No," and to leave me alone. I recognized the homeless dude as a "local" whom I’d seen around the neighborhood a bunch of times.
I gave the homeless guy a nod and continued on my way whilst he still berated the other guy. I’m not sure what his intent was, but it wouldn’t have ended well for either of us.
36. Stop Staring At Me
I got off work late one day and ended up pulling into my apartment complex at around 1 am. I looked to my right and saw this really pale blonde girl with thin hair and really sunken eyes, sitting in the car next to me and STARING ME DOWN. As soon as I looked up and saw her, I jumped. She seemed to have no reaction to that at all, which made the whole thing even more frightening. She was completely still and never got out of her car as I briskly headed up to my apartment. The best conclusion I could draw was that she was doing something unlawful in her car when I came along. She was consuming something in the car from what I could see.
37. Home Improvement
Back when I was 16, I used to work at a hardware store. Some customer who was an old man walked up behind me and whispered in my ear, "Do you know where I can find the hoses at?" He said that so close to my ear that I could feel his warm breath while he was caressing my shoulder. My whole body froze.
All I could say was, "I think they’re in aisle five". Shortly after that, I found out that he never even went to that end of the store where they were.
38. A Walk Interrupted
I left my apartment to go for a walk down towards the beach. It was pitch black outside, in the deep of the night. There was a park along the way and as we were passing it, some guy came up to me and asked if he could use my phone. I apologized and said I didn't have one. He didn't believe me and started to get aggressive. He asked me where I lived and if I had a boyfriend.
He started following me and that's when I started to run and went back to my place. I didn't feel comfortable going where I wanted to.
39. Is That Your Natural Color?
I was walking over to my friend's house on the last day of eighth grade. All of a sudden, this old lady pulled her car next to me, almost cutting me off my path. I backed away because it immediately seemed like a bad situation. She called out to me saying that she liked my hair.
She said that she missed her old hair color and that she changed it after she had been attacked one day. You'd better believe my little chunky self ran to my friend's house and told her parents.
40. The Train Has Left The Station
I was 16 and sitting in a train station with my mother. Some man came over and started talking to her. He seemed pretty nice. After a while, I looked at the clock and informed my mother that we needed to go because our train was about to arrive. That's when the guy she was talking to took me by total surprise—he flew up from his seat and started screaming at me, saying he wanted to fight.
My mother was confused and tried to explain to him that I was her daughter and that we really needed to leave. He just continued screaming which, of course, made me scream back at him. She had to pull me away from there. I never understood what made him see red like that. All I did was inform my mother our train was coming and we needed to leave.
41. I Wasn’t Talking To You
I was the only passenger in a train car in Europe one night. A disheveled man with wild hair and a beard wearing a tagged sweater entered the car. He started pacing up and down the aisle, talking to himself in a language I couldn’t understand. Every few times he passed me, he would stop and yell at me in whatever language he spoke.
I would try to respond, but he didn’t understand English any more than I understood whatever language he was speaking. He would eventually give up yelling at me and go back to pacing the aisle. This went on for hours. I really wish I could have recorded so that I could find someone to translate what he was saying.
42. Ghost Busted
I will never forget this horrible experience I had with a stranger. When Ghostbusters 2 came out, I really wanted to see it, so my mom took me to the local theater. I think I was around nine. I needed to use the bathroom so I ran down the small hall and turned the corner. I saw a much older man come out of the bathroom just then.
When he saw me, he stopped and went back in. When I didn't move, he opened the door peeking his head and arm out. At one point, he motioned for me to come towards him. I probably looked like a deer in headlights. I didn't move. I was frozen until he said something that shook me to my core: "Come on, come on in". I was really young but I knew that it was a bad situation.
Panic rushed over me and I ran back towards my mom who said I was pale white. She quickly left the theater with me and went home. I can still picture that creepy old man.
43. How’s Your English?
One time, I was in a public library and it was packed with most of the seats taken. There were a bunch of couches near where I was browsing and I had a gut feeling that this guy sitting there was staring at me. I continued minding my own business when suddenly, that guy stood up and walked directly towards me.
I pretended not to notice him until he said, "Hey, little girl" in the creepiest way. I was probably 14 at the time. I thought that I could just ignore him and he would go away, but then he asked me, "Do you want to be my friend?" I was so creeped out at that point. That dude had to be at least in his 60s.
I pretended that I didn’t understand English and that I didn't get what he was trying to say and he walked away. Thank goodness that library was full of people.
44. The Parrot Man
I don't know his name and I've only just begun to have these memories come out of repression, but...my uncle was part of a group called "The Family International" when I was seven years old. Their propaganda video is on YouTube. This uncle was my babysitter for hours to days at a time since both of my parents worked long shifts—my mom, in particular, was a respiratory therapist in a hospital and worked at a long-term vent facility for people in comas on the weekends.
I remember a bright, multicolored room and a knock at the door. My uncle answered it and what I saw instantly shook me: a man with a large, colorful, parrot-type bird on his shoulder walked in. I remember being so terrified of this man that I started crying...The cult was known for their inappropriate acts with kids and distributing "educational " pamphlets to children of the group members. They would teach them how to do bad things and would also brainwash them into thinking that it was what good children deserved. If they didn't do it, then they were told "The Creator" didn't love them.
I don't remember much more of what happened, but anything I can recall I couldn't even say here if you catch my drift...The parrot man was pretty high up in the group. I was my uncle's present for the parrot man. It only stopped because my dad got home early and walked in on me watching the very same propaganda that's on YouTube. I haven't looked into people known to be in that cult since then because even though I want to know what happened to me, I'm still scared of the parrot man.
45. The Prophetic Word
I was on a subway one day and sitting across from me was an old, wrinkled lady, probably 90 years old. She stared at me intensely, piercing through my head, and said, "I foresee the passing of a loved one". When I inquired about the odd statement, she simply got up and left. A month later, my beloved German Shepard had to be euthanized.
46. Seek Cover
My siblings and I were walking across the road to a gas station. We frequently went there to grab snacks and such before going on a walk down the road behind the gas station. Well, one day, a car started following us with its headlights switched off. Things were about to get really creepy.
I quickly dipped and told my siblings to follow suit. We started running through a field and laid on the ground, waiting for them to leave. The then car drove up and down the road, circling back maybe four or five times before they gave up and we went home—or back to their secret creepy lair.
47. Confidence Man
I was walking home from the bus stop after school one day. I was about 15 years old at the time. It really wasn’t a far walk, but there were construction workers drinking on the side of the road. Things immediately took a turn for the worst when one of them got up and started following me home. The worst part of it was that he was yelling out suggestive things the whole time.
His intentions were pretty clear. I got to about 200 meters or so from my house and just started sprinting. We had an automatic gate and I realized that he would catch me if I waited for it to open...or, worse, he would follow me in. So I climbed over that gate like an Olympic athlete and left him in the dust.
48. At The Nightclub
When I was much younger, I was a regular at a local nightclub. My girlfriends and I were there one night, and we met this guy. Something about him just gave me the willies. I couldn't quite put my finger on it—he was actually quite attractive but something about him just...scared the heck out of me. I was pretty naïve when I was younger, and I generally couldn't read people for anything. I also didn't know at the time that the teardrop tattoo next to his eye meant that he had been in prison. I just knew there was something...off.
Anyway, he creeped me out so much that I made up an excuse to get the heck away from him. I told my friends he gave me the creeps, and we all avoided him for the rest of the night. The next night, my friends and I went back to the club, and we were chatting with the manager. What we learned shook us to our cores. She told us, "A guy took advantage of a girl out in the parking lot last night and beat the heck out of her. Fortunately, the authorities were called and they caught him. Y'all just....be careful out in the parking lot...Okay?" My friend asked her, "So, what did the guy look like?" She said, "Well, he had a teardrop tattoo, so this won't be his first trip to the pen, I guess".
49. Rush Hour Traffic
I got rear-ended outside New York City in a brand-new car during some busy rush hour traffic in 1995 or so. I had recently been in a hit-and-run, so the first thing I did was look in the rearview and write down the plate number. It was either a black caddy or a town car. The passenger was an older man wearing sunglasses and a fedora.
The driver was a huge man who could have been a linebacker. As I was writing down the color, make, and model of his car, the driver knocked on my window. I got out and he seemed annoyed. There was no damage to my car and little to his. He looked at me and said we are alright here? I thought it better to go along with that. I said we should probably file a report with the authorities and exchange information. What he said next was peculiar.
He said no, we are OK. Normally, I would have insisted, but I had a pretty good idea of what type I was dealing with. He said, "OK, all set then" and I went back to my car. Then, all of a sudden, he said, "WAIT". I almost relieved myself in my pants. I turned around and he grabbed my right hand, shook it, looked right into my eyes, and said, "May we never meet again". I went back into my car and drove off as fast as I could, checking my rearview every so often for that car. I never saw it again, but I was shaken for a while on my drive to my destination.
50. Where Are You From?
I was 21 when this happened and I'm not exactly a small dude by any standards. I was at the old bus depot before they closed it down when this scrawny guy covered in prison tattoos approached me. Me, being a friendly guy, didn't think much of it until he started trying to get me to tell him where I lived. He was practically pestering me.
He gave me bad vibes from the beginning and the way that he was rambling made me think then that he was on something. I tried to dodge the question but he kept rambling and pushing. Fortunately, the bus came around soon after that, and I hurried on. I was honestly surprised that he didn't try to follow me on the bus.
I don’t know what his plans were or what he would have done if he found out where I lived. That’s the thing with strangers. You just never know.
51. Wakey, Wakey
When I was 19, I was sleeping with the window open. It was a hot summer night. My boyfriend and I were both exhausted. Regardless, for some reason, I sprang awake (I just opened my eyes but didn’t get out of bed) because I had a horrible gut feeling. It was like an animal instinct telling me the creepiest thing ever—someone was watching me.
I turned to my side and I saw someone’s head sticking in from the window. Needless to say, I practically had a heart attack. As soon as they heard me get up, they left.
52. He Was Only A Teenager
I was mugged when I was 17 at a popular outdoor shopping mall...I got into my car and before I could shut the door, a leg interfered. Then, my body went into shock—I felt a screwdriver suddenly being jammed into my neck. He wanted my brand-new phone that I just got the day before. He had tattoos all over his face and smelt like he was dying... I ended up talking my way out of it slowly, then slapped his screwdriver hand away from my neck and ran away as fast as I could, yelling for help...I ended up keeping my phone and I got away unharmed...but holy heck, he was scary.
53.Go, Go Great Granny!
When I was five, I was sitting on my great-grandmother’s porch. She was always an amazing and fierce woman, but I had no idea how much until this one day when I saw it first hand. Out of nowhere, some random man walking by tried to abduct me from the porch. Well, my great-grandmother wasn’t having any of that. She chased the man away with a giant stick.
54. WWII Creepiness
There was this guy at school who was always nice and had this kind of archaic authority. He wasn't tall or strong by any means, but he had a boldness that everyone knew about. He was also super creepy. In particular, he was the leader of all the people at our school who were involved with WWII, and he stayed connected to many skinheads from the Frankfurter Kameradschaften. If you had beef with him, he could easily summon a couple of muscles to your home and beat you up. He had a way of looking at you with a slight smile and hard blue eyes that could send shivers up your spine.
55. Bonnie & Clyde
I stopped at a gas station on my way home from work one night. There was this couple hanging out there—they were clearly strung out on something. They asked me for a ride to a motel that was ten or so miles down the highway. I turned them down because they looked sketchy. I had no idea how right my suspicions were.
The next thing I knew, I was staring down a barrel. They forced their way into my car and held the muzzle against me. After riding along like that for some time, they started to get hungry—probably the munchies. They spent $60 of my money at a fast-food restaurant. I managed to run out of the car and into the restaurant but they held my phone and wallet so I wouldn’t get away.
Once I got into the restaurant, I asked to use the phone to call 9-1-1 while the employees kept the crazy couple in the drive-thru "waiting on fresh beef". Thankfully the idiots stayed there and officers had every exit blocked within a couple of minutes. I got my car, money, and wallet back the next day. I got really lucky that everything turned out the way it did.
56. Restaurant Kid
The first job I ever had was as a host at a small restaurant. I was always the only front-of-house employee and I seated everyone, which was usually fine. But one day, some creepy kid my age came in and asked for an application. He was wearing a white dress shirt and a tie that was fastened poorly and way too short. His hair was also disheveled and he just had those ominous, psychopathic eyes.
I gave him the application anyway as I figured it wasn't my job to keep people from applying. He said thanks and left. I thought that would be it, but hours later during my shift, I was watching the news on the TV at the bar and what I saw sent chills up my spine. It was him. Apparently, after he came by, he walked home in the apartments behind the restaurant and beat his mom half to heck with a baseball bat. The authorities came a few hours later to ask a few questions and I answered them all as best I could, but I didn't really know anything about it (and I still don't). He, uh, didn't get the job.
57. Spirit Of Aloha
When my daughter turned one, we went on a trip to Hawaii. We were sitting in the airport waiting to check in with our tickets. A man approached me and started commenting on how beautiful my daughter was. That was fine, but it didn't stop there. He stood over me and continued to ask about her age, birthday, favorite things, where we were going, etc.
I wasn’t born yesterday, so I refused to answer his questions, but he refused to move and kind of had us trapped. My husband came back and the man stepped away pretty quickly. I told airport security but they didn't do anything. We got to our gate and a few minutes later, the same man was there. But the chilling part was yet to come—he positioned himself where he could watch our daughter.
If we moved seats, he kept her in his sight. I mentioned it to the gate agent who brushed it off again. We got on the plane and he managed to also be on the plane in a seat he could keep an eye on her. He kept smiling at her and getting up to walk the aisles and pass her. My husband got up and he came in, saying, "I found out where you’re going, didn't I?"
I reported it to the flight attendant who was not messing around. They forced him to switch seats and barred him from getting up again. Upon landing, there were people waiting for him (security or airport staff, I’m not sure). We didn’t see him again and enjoyed the rest of our vacation.
58. The Annoying One
My middle-school bully. He would do annoying things to ruin my day, like pull the outside doors shut as I tried to go in to get me in trouble for skipping. Fortunately, the PE teacher would usually be outside and he'd let me in fairly quickly, but it always left me in a state of stress and anxiety. It didn't stop there, either—one time, he held me while a couple of guys kicked soccer balls at me...It was not fun at all.
He was also creepy as heck. Just to give you some examples: 1) He had a bunch of hamsters and would often tell gruesome stories of how they passed on. 2) He caught an opossum in a trap and said lowered it into his pool to drown. 3) He got in a fight in a parking lot, claiming the guy was tripping on substances, but who knows. 4) He played hockey with the sole intention of hurting people (his words). Lastly, 5) He drew a graveyard stone with our English teacher's name on it, which was horrible because she was actually a sweet lady.
Of all the people who used to bug me in school, he was the only one I felt was a genuine psycho. I'd be more surprised if he isn't in prison now.
59. Lead Away
When I was about 3, I was outside playing in my front yard with my older brother. My mom came outside to check on us and I wasn't there. She asked my brother where I was and he said that I went to the library, which was a block away. So, my mom walked to the side of our house and saw a couple walking away holding my hands. They were walking the opposite way of the library. She lost it.
My mom ran up and hit the man right in his face and started going off on them. They ended up running away.
60. The Zombie
I didn't know him, but when I was in a shopping center, there was a guy who genuinely looked like a zombie. To describe what he looked like: he had yellow and black teeth (most of them were already gone), greenish wrinkly skin, a different posture, white hair that was falling out, and a weird smile that terrified me. I know the guy was probably not doing well or something, but he still terrified me.
61. Let’s Play Russian Roulette
I was at a co-worker’s Halloween party once. A young woman, in her 30s and very beautiful, came up to me. The conversation was casual and we started to flirt. Things were going well and I asked if she was seeing anyone (feeling this was my time to ask her out). She replied that she recently got out of a nightmare relationship.
Her husband would regularly threaten to blow his brains out with an empty revolver in front of her and her children. It got to a point where this was happening every weekend. One weekend, she sent her kids to stay with their grandparents because she had big plans. Without her husband knowing, she did something completely unforgivable—she slipped a round into his revolver.
The same routine built up again and he started clicking through the chambers…until the last one. She made a sign with her hand and put it to her temple and went, "Pow, the loser’s gone". I didn’t realize I hadn’t taken a drag the whole time I was listening. I quickly said goodnight and got the heck out of there. Never saw her again. Hope her kids are ok.
62. The One-Eyed Man
One New Year's Day morning, I was very much under the influence in a Chinese restaurant's bar. At one point, I had to go to the bathroom, so I headed there—only to find that the door was jammed. Now, this was my favorite dive bar in town, so I knew for a fact the doors didn't lock. I assumed the door was just stuck, so I just pushed harder.
It started to budge a bit, and after another push, the door flew open. What I saw truly disturbed me—there was a one-eyed man in a suit just standing by the sinks. When I finished my business and went to wash my hands, he started staring at me. Because I was under the influence, I felt indestructible, so I didn't really pay him any mind...but it was still really weird that the guy was just standing there, staring at me.
I dried my hands and was about to leave, but then I heard a click. When I turned around to look at the guy, he had a knife out. He pointed it towards the counter where he had crushed something up. I laughed and told him I didn't see anything. My friend, who was the bartender there, later told me he was a pimp who was heading back to Las Vegas.
63. I’m Just A Nice Old Lady
An older woman approached me on campus one day. She was asking me to take her to this spot in town since she didn’t know where it was. I told her no (it was a new city for me and she gave off bad vibes). She insisted that it was right around the corner, not too far. That seemed even stranger to me as all of a sudden, she knew where was going.
I refused again and she hesitated but then walked off. An older guy asked her if she needed directions, only for her to walk straight past him. I just thought it was strange but I didn’t really think about it. The next week, I checked my phone when I get to class and someone posted an article that sent a chill down my spine.
The article was about an older woman who had ties to multiple cases of human trafficking. She had just been apprehended in a nearby town. From the description alone, I knew it was the woman I had talked to.
64. Raindrops Keep Falling
I was once driving in through the country and it was pouring rain in the middle of the night. I had to drive very slowly as I couldn’t see any of the signs on the road (this was before GPS). At one point, the rain fell so hard that I even had to pull over to the side of the road to read the signs and figure out if I was going in the right direction.
I didn’t get out of my car due to the rain, so I just craned my neck forward, trying to make out where I was. That's when my passenger door suddenly opened. When I looked over to my right, my blood ran cold. This random man got inside my car, sat down, and looked at me. I instinctively started yelling and screaming at the top of my lungs.
I flailed my arms around in case the guy tried to attack me. He started screaming as well and then jumped out of my car as quickly as he had come in. I quickly leaned over, closed the passenger door, and sped off down the road. I was breathing so heavily trying my best to calm down, nearly in tears.
I kept replaying that moment in my head for the rest of my drive and I suddenly remembered that the man had smiled at me. That’s when it dawned on me. That guy had probably been a hitchhiker that I hadn’t seen who thought that I was pulling over to give him a lift. Only, once he got in my car, I greeted him by screaming and trying to hit him.
It was probably the scariest encounter with a stranger I’ve ever had—his too. Turns out, we were both harmless...I think.
65. The Ex With Stuffed Animals
A few years ago, I was seeing this guy. He seemed harmless, but there was something about his eyes. Sometimes he would look at me and I would feel cold. One day, I was laying down on his sofa next to his collection of stuffed animals (very weird, I know). Out of nowhere, he bent over me and started choking me. I passed out. When I woke up, he was sitting next to me on the sofa just watching a movie. The fact that I passed out didn’t affect him whatsoever...He didn’t try to wake me up. The memory of him still scares me.
66. Happily Never After
I was sitting in the cafeteria at a table by myself once when some random guy approached me. He asked if an empty seat at my table was taken. Out of all the tables he could have gone to, he chose the one I was at...but I let him sit anyway. He then proceeded to make conversation with me. He asked me for my name and major.
I didn’t want to be rude so I responded politely, thinking that would be the end of the conversation. But then the guy asked me if I was married. At first, I thought I just heard wrong, but then he repeated the question. I responded with a firm, "No". The guy then asked me why—that's when things got really weird.
He asked, "Would you like to [be married] with me?" His expression was totally serious, so I doubt the dude was joking. He kept asking why I wouldn't marry him and then just left. Weirdest encounter ever.
67. In & Out Burger
It was late evening and I was heading into the city to visit a friend. On the way, I figured I should stop and eat. I saw a fast-food restaurant as I was heading up the street, which was convenient because I really had to go to the washroom.
I was like five minutes away or less, but I couldn’t hold it and we were going to be drinking. I parked my car and as I was walking away from it, I heard, " Hey miss! Hey miss!" I walked faster and ignored it. I walked into the restaurant and got in line. As I was walking back, a homeless man stopped in front of me and said, "Mm, you got some really pretty hair".
His voice was all raspy and it was just creepy. I hadn’t been out on the town in a while and I felt like letting my hair down—big mistake, apparently. I said, "Thanks" really fast and slipped past him. At the other end of the counter was this middle-aged man; the type of guy that makes you uncomfortable almost immediately.
He looked like a creepy dad—balding, no facial hair, would always-be-happy-to-give-you-a-ride-home type of guy. He leaned against the counter and just stared at me. No facial expression at all. Just blank. One worker placed his bag of food on the counter and said, " Here’s your order, sir". He didn’t even touch it. He just kept staring at me.
When I got up to the counter, I asked for my burger and then went to find the bathroom that was around the corner. When I got back there, I saw that it required a passcode. The middle-aged man was still at the counter. I walked over and leaned into the cashier to ask for the passcode and she literally screamed it at me.
As soon as he heard that I was going to the washroom, he started making his way toward the bathrooms. He went around a corner and I couldn’t see him, but I rushed into the bathroom, keeping my keys between my fingers. Honestly, I didn’t even wash my hands. I wanted to be in and out of there ASAP. To heck with hygiene—I was scared for my life.
When I came out of the washroom, the creepy man was one foot away from the doors. I walked straight past him and headed to my car as fast as I could. Then that stupid guy started up again: "Hey miss! Hey miss!" I just snapped I yelled, "No! No, thank you!" I don’t know why I’m polite even when I’m terrified. I am never going back to that place again.
68. Don’t Stare
One night, I was turning a corner on my way home when I saw a man staring right at me, moving his head at exactly the same rate I was turning at. He was still staring when I had passed by him about 40 feet down the road. I brushed it off and headed into a Walgreens just down the street. When I came out of the pharmacy, my blood ran cold— there he was, standing at the exit of the parking lot. It looked like his right hand was clutching something and he was hiding it behind his back. Holy moly, I was scared out of my mind. He was still staring at me as I sped right out of the parking lot and down the street.
69. Pray For Us Sinners Now
When I was either 14 or 15, I was walking my dog in a forest. I ran into a large guy who told me he had failed to report back to his mental hospital but that I should not be afraid. He told me about visiting purgatory and how painful that was. He then went on to explain to me that Hades was specifically one thousand times more painful. Not more, not less.
He gave me colorful details. It sounded like something out of Bosch or the Hindu book of the dead. He begged me to pray for him which, not knowing what else to do, I said that I would. Incidentally, my school’s gym in those days was located on the opposite side of the road from a mental hospital. They'd release them for a walk every now and then.
I was pretty used to running into mental hospital patients on my way to and from the gym. It was a bit eerie, but we were always in a group and it was in a city, so I felt safe. Being outside of civilization and alone with that guy was terrifying. He wasn't harmful and let me go, but it was deeply uncomfortable.
70. The Boss
I had some regular customers when I was a waiter that elicited that response from people in the neighborhood. I got along really well with them. The neighborhood officer caught me and a friend packing a bowl once and when he saw it was me, he said, "Oh, you're friends with Satko, forget about it," and let us go. A couple of weeks later, they busted the hair salon down the street for running an after-hours unlawful operation out of the upstairs apartments.
I saw Satko later break a car window and pull a guy through it while pummeling him and yelling, "I told you to be careful!" He said it over and over as he hit him. It was startling, but then we found out why he was so pressed—it turned out that Satko owned the salon, the cafe across the street, the travel agency, the jewelry store, and several other Eastern European cafes in the neighborhood. He was a Serbian boss. I saw him beat down another guy in the public square a year or so later and no one, including the neighborhood officer, did a thing about it.
71. Are You Just Excited To See Me?
I was 15 years old when I went on a school trip to London. Some shady guy walked up next to me on the subway. He was staring at me intently for some reason. He pushed his thigh up against my leg and I felt a little sting. When I looked down to see what had stung me, I froze. I noticed that he was hiding a knife in his pocket.
He stood there for another few seconds before he walked away, presumably to terrorize someone else.
72. McDonald’s
I worked at McDonald’s and this dude applied. I was the one who handed him an application, but he gave off instant creepy vibes. When he came in for an interview, I told my manager that he was weird, but he smiled his way through the interview and got hired. I'm pretty sure he was a psychopath. He knew he couldn’t fake being a real human in front of me, so he would give me real sinister looks behind people’s backs.
He ended up getting fired because he pushed a big ladder over that almost nailed someone. The camera saw it all. He claimed he was "just venting off a little steam". He came back as a customer and reordered the same thing like 10 times and just terrorized the place. At one point, he tried to walk into the kitchen to eat in the break room, so the manager finally called the authorities. He laughed and bailed on foot across the highway. I haven’t seen him since.
73. This Is A Hold-Up
I used to work in a cinema when I was a teenager. After cleaning and locking up, I had to go to the bank and deliver the cash to a bank box; around $8,000 worth. One day, I was locking the front door and I noticed it was a busy night in the pub across the other side of the alley. That meant there was way more cash than usual (I come from a Scandinavian town that is not too busy).
I was a little nervous because I had so much money on me. It made me paranoid...but it turned out that my anxiety was valid. All of a sudden, I heard someone say, "Hands up and give me the money!" When I turned around, a man was holding an object to my face. I was so scared, but upon closer look, it turned out to be nothing but his cellphone. The man was just making a joke. I got so visibly scared though that he excused himself. He walked off laughing though.
Man, I got scared. It was not a very funny joke to me. I don’t know why the owners thought that the teen who cleaned up popcorn could carry all of that cash.
74. I Think You’re In My Bed
I was staying at a motel out of town. I was in my room on the bed in my underwear (since I wasn’t expecting any company) and watching TV. The next thing I knew, the door opened and a guy walked halfway in. He stopped and we just kind of stared at each other. I was freaking out internally. I didn’t know what he was planning on doing.
I was completely stuck in fear. He looked at me and then mumbled, "What the…" Then he looked at the door number then his key card then back at the door number. He was like, "They told me my room was 223". I cleared the fear in my throat enough to go, "Uh, I’ve been here all day. You might want to go tell them there is a mistake".
He just nodded his head, closed the door, and walked out. He was probably just as scared as I was.
75. It Had To Be The Brother’s Friend
A friend of my brother cornered me in the kitchen in the middle of the night when we were all hanging out at my sister's place. Everyone else was asleep. I was trying to politely sidle around him to get away, but he kept outmaneuvering me. It was just mildly irritating at first (I was tired and wanted to go to bed), but then he stood in the middle of the doorway and he said something that sent chills up my spine. He said: "Wow, you're so uncomfortable; you keep messing with your hair, you can't even make eye contact with me".
Irritation turned immediately into fear because he went from someone who couldn't take a hint to a predator who knew exactly what he was doing, almost in a snap. He held that position for just a few seconds, but it felt like hours. After some time, he finally let me go. I had planned on sleeping on the living room floor (the creep was in the guest bedroom and my brother had passed out on the living room couch), but I was so freaked out that I crawled in bed with my sister. I didn't sleep that night.
76. The Class Clown
This one kid in my school was the annoying "class clown" type, but underneath all of his stupid jokes and fake personality, he was a really smart and cerebral person. He could talk about politics, movies, music, and have deep conversations with others when the opportunity allowed. As our relationship progressed and I became more or less part of his friend group, I began to realize he was one of the most messed up people I've ever met, mentally speaking.
We were maybe 14 at the time and he was already using substances and various medications that he bought off of other kids. He also self-harmed, which in and of itself is extremely sad; but then I saw where he was doing it. He was burning the heels of his feet and his shoulder blades, giving himself scars that would most likely never heal.
I know self-harm is bad and it's something people need to get help for, but from what I understand, he enjoyed taking it to an extreme. He would target places on his body that would hurt more than normal. I never judged him for it, but then he took it to another level—he started talking about ways in which he wanted to harm other people; like how he would do a school shooting, etc.
Eventually, he started casually joking about hurting me, which was terrifying because we often walked home together and he knew where I lived. In fact, he could see my bedroom from the street. He once even pushed me into the main street, right near into oncoming traffic. Now, all together, I realize how messed up this was and how many red flags are here, but these were all separate incidents, and ones he covered up with a laugh and a smile.
It was so off-putting, and he made me more and more uncomfortable the longer I knew him. At the time, he was having issues with his gender identity, but my friends and I understood that, so we didn't give him any problems. I think he was just a scary person because he seemed so capable of being violent.
Looking back on it, I know I could've done some things a lot differently, but I was so unprepared and uneducated to handle the situation. Now that I've read about these things and learned more about mental health, I can now comprehend what was really happening, and I can't believe how much went over my head. This is definitely a prime example of why mental health needs to be taught to children.
Even though he did threaten my life, I hope he's doing okay, wherever he is.
77. Sometimes People Can Be Evil
I once had a guy in my office who I was doing a clinical assessment on. He was schizophrenic, but I'm usually fine with mental health patients. During this particular encounter, however, he was scary. He would sit down, stand really close to my desk, and then stare at the wall while describing how he had put his head through several window panes. His eyes were just lifeless. But it gets worse—at some point, he mentioned how he usually carried a knife with him, and that was the final straw for me. I used the silent panic alarm for the first ever in my job and told him I just needed to get some water. Not a lot of people scare me, but he just gave off this black vibe of pure evil.
78. The Not So Godly Father
About ten years ago, I was attending my sister’s wedding. This older guy, very Italian-looking (think of a mob boss) who I’d never even seen before came up to me. He said, "Do you remember me from a couple of years ago at the fair?" I said, "No?" I honestly didn’t at all. He said, "It’s probably better that you don’t," and then laughed and walked away.
I was just standing there so confused. I still have no idea what that was about.
79. These Mean Streets
Some random guy came up to me one day. We made eye contact for literally five seconds, then he got right up in my face. He started talking a bunch of smack and he clearly wanted to get into a fight with me. I had never seen this dude before in my life. I don’t know what his deal was. Maybe he had just had a bad day, I have no idea.
80. Waitressing The Worst
I used to waitress at this bar that had a lot of officers who would come in and drink. There was this one cop that had these ice blue eyes and would literally show no emotion whatsoever. The definition of lifeless shark eyes. The first time I served him, I asked him if he wanted another drink and he looked me in the eye for about four seconds...Then, he looked away and ignored me without saying anything.
Anyway, after years of working there, he conned me out of a necklace I was wearing (a carved bone Maori fishhook) by pestering me for the duration of my nine-hour shift. I finally gave it to him to shut him up, and he never gave it back. I confronted him about it many months later and then the absolute worst happened—he actively started hitting on me, which was terrifying.
He said that he'd give me the necklace back if I gave him my phone number, so I gave him a fake number. I lied when he asked if I got his text and said my phone ran out of battery. I can remember, clear as day, him towering over me, staring me directly in the eye, and saying quietly, "You're lying". All I could say back was "YUP!" If I had to give up a necklace to never deal with him ever again, I'm OK with that price. He just gave off the impression that he'd committed disturbing acts before. I've never been as unsettled by someone than by him.
81. The Empty Vessel
About a year and a half ago, I was taking a two-month class. There were approximately thirty people in the class and it was a hands-on learning lab for a trade school. Well, one day all the students were supposed to start a fairly large project involving gears and I didn't bring gloves, so I asked another student if I could borrow a pair of his nitrile gloves.
He looked me in the eye for a solid five seconds and just said, "No". The hairs on the back of my neck stood up and I could tell there was something really wrong with this guy. I even wrote a post online about how I thought this guy was a deeply disturbed sociopath. I've never felt that way around another person before.
In my post, people just told me that he was just a normal human being, blah blah blah. But then fast forward a year after that—I started taking another class and the teacher began talking about how that student had a heart attack and no one even wants to call an ambulance for him. After asking why somebody would not want to call an ambulance for a dying person, he pulled out his smartphone and Googled the guy's name.
He showed me what he pulled up and it turned out the man was an offender for acts against children and the only reason he wasn't in prison was that some district attorney messed up the facts on his case. So, I was right when I got that "vibe" about him, but it wasn't necessarily because he was a disturbed sociopath. I knew there was something wrong when I looked into his eyes. It was like staring into a very empty vessel. I had never felt that feeling.
82. Soulless
I work in law enforcement. A guy beat his girl and child terribly. I went in to do an interview and his presence was...I can't explain it to this day. I have interviewed murderers, thieves, and substance users. We can usually build rapport or just quickly get told to leave them alone. Regardless, there are emotions and some type of humanity in those people.
I always try to be respectful knowing they may have walked a different path than I have. But this guy...he was literally as lifeless as the dementors from Harry Potter. I walked into the room and everything—every emotion, every feeling—was gone. I have heard the afterlife described as the absence of God and after standing near this man, I felt that.
It felt like I was totally alone, which is worse than feeling scared...hopelessly devoid of human interaction, as no emotions could exist. I remember feeling so uncomfortable that I just wanted to leave. I was glad he didn't want to talk. He is in prison now. I never ever want to have to be near him again or anyone like that. Soulless. Evil in a human form.
83. Big, Scary Teddy Bear
I was about 19 and driving home from dinner one night—I probably had a ribeye sandwich from the local truck stop because those things were cheap and excellent. A woman standing next to a motorcycle at the side of the road waved me down, so I stopped. She said that she’d run out of gas and needed some help. Oh, and there was one more thing.
She added that she didn’t want to scare me but her boyfriend was hiding down over the bank. I was like, uh-oh, this is going to get worse. Out of nowhere, this giant came up over the bank in dusty road leathers. He was a mountain of a man in denim, leather, and hair. I was certain that I had fallen for a fake damsel-in-distress ploy.
My mind started racing. I was like, I’m so close to home, maybe I can leg it home. Surely, he’s too big to be fast, right? My fears were totally misplaced though. The giant apologized for hiding and said, "We ran out of gas and there was no way anyone was going to stop on an empty road to help with me standing here". He was actually embarrassed.
I felt a little guilty for judging the guy so quickly. He was right, though, there was no way that I would have stopped if he had been standing there. He was intimidating without putting any effort into it. Anyway, I helped them get some gas and the whole thing was a lesson not to judge a book by its cover.
84. Stalking Interrupted
I was at a hardware store near my house. Some dude, looking pretty frazzled in old camo shorts and a shirt, was hitting on women there. I’m a dude, so I thought that he would leave me alone. I was wrong about that. As I was walking down the main aisle, I passed him and apparently interrupted his conversation with some lady.
So he started following me down the main aisle tossing quarters at every fixture near me. Eventually, I stopped walking and turned around to face this dude. I’m not confrontational by any means, but something just kind of hit a nerve. In my manliest voice, I said, "Do we have a problem?" I guess it worked because the dude looked super startled.
He walked away from me as fast as he could. I ended up reporting it to the manager. I don’t what he was doing, but I hope he left and stopped hitting on random women.
85. Road Rage Revenge
This happened to me back in 2011. I was about eight and a half months pregnant, just about ready to pop. I was driving to an OB/GYN appointment by myself. Out of nowhere, this man pulled out directly in front of me. Luckily, the right lane was empty, so I whipped over just in time. I would have plowed directly into the back of his big SUV with my little sedan if I hadn't.
I was very shaken up because his actions had endangered me and my unborn baby. In my frustration, I blew my horn. Apparently, that was not a good idea—that angered him because he then followed me for several miles trying to run me off the road. He only stopped when he saw a squad car. I never got a good look at him, but strangers on the road can be the most dangerous.
86. Tattooed Terror
I haven't met many scary people, but one comes to mind. I was providing a small ministry for guys who wanted to attend at our local, low-security law enforcement center. If the opportunity ever arose, and the prisoners were cool with it, I'd try to spend a few minutes with the guys who wanted to just talk one-on-one about their past, etc.
There was this new guy who'd been recently imprisoned for some petty offenses, but it was very clear he was NOT from our area as he was covered with gang-banger tattoos. This aside, he was actually very friendly, thoughtful, and pleasant to talk to. After a few minutes of chatting, he seemed to be letting down his tough-guy image demeanor, and he began telling me about some of the really bad mistakes he'd made growing up...which apparently included possibly murdering a few rival gang members.
It then suddenly occurred to me that I was locked inside a very small room with a very large, very strong man, who if he wanted to, could've harmed me way before any authorities would have been able to help me. I wasn't really "scared", but in hindsight, it was kind of a thoughtless situation to put myself in. He was a pretty scary guy, but I think he was just sort of forced to grow up that way. I truly hope he's doing better today.
87. Trips Can Be Scary
Years ago, I took a long trip to South America where I backpacked around for like two months. On my flight home, I had a stopover in La Paz, Bolivia. While sitting around at the terminal waiting for my connecting flight, I heard five or six guys talking about Texas, where I lived at the time. I also heard some Mexican slang so I wondered if maybe they were from Texas.
For the last two weeks of the trip, I was traveling by myself and I spent a lot of time alone, so I thought some conversation would be nice. I went over and said something to them in Spanish like, "Hey, I heard you all talking about Texas. I'm from Austin. Are you from there too?" They all stopped cold and stared at me.
One of them broke the silence in a semi-friendly way and said something (I can't really remember what) but then went silent again. I then looked over to one of them who was seated. He was short, wearing all black, and had this wide-brimmed hat on. He was staring at me from under the brim of his hat with this ice-cold look that sent chills down my spine.
I immediately sensed that I wasn't welcome, so I just kind of smiled and said something mundane to the guy who had spoken. I may be being paranoid and reading way too much into this, but my immediate thought, based on their hostile reaction to me, was to wonder if I had just tried to talk to some people who were involved in unlawful trades. Perhaps they wondered if I was some sort of undercover person trying to get close to them. Probably not, but I will never forget that dude's stare. It was like he was looking into my soul. It scared the beck out of me.
88. The Second Husband Can Be As Creepy As The First
My aunt's second husband was a real piece of work. When we met him, I was a teenager, and I remember him staring at my bare legs in shorts. He'd follow me and my teenage cousins around the family gatherings and just sort of... stare. He and my aunt would also get into really bizarre fights. One time, she wanted to put a new onesie on her child before we all went to a Chinese restaurant.
He jumped into our SUV and told us to just leave them behind, saying that my aunt hadn't earned the right to Chinese food? He put his hand on my knee and I was like, "Nope...get out of our car". My father and I both got weird vibes from him at that moment. But that's not even the creepiest thing he's done. Cut to a year or two later. My aunt called us and said they were divorcing.
He was taking these weekend trips just over the border in Mexico (we lived in CA) and she noticed weird charges on her credit card. Turned out he was paying rent on an apartment for his 16-year-old "girlfriend" (They say "girlfriend," I say, "victim") He also was embezzling a bunch of money from the company he worked for.
He put a down payment on a house when they got married, and then he said he was paying the bills even though he never did. He just suddenly left when she found out about the Mexico trips, which was around the same time she discovered he'd put the house in her name alone, so she was on the hook for these bills that she thought were being paid. Apparently, the authorities were after him and they eventually tracked him down.
89. Even Walking Can Be Creepy
I was walking down a shortcut behind a hospital that went through a hidden woodland and ultimately led to a shopping area. Usually, I don't listen to music with my headphones whenever I go through secluded places like that, but this particular day I did. While I was walking down the path, I just knew: something bad was going to happen. I stopped walking, turned around, and there was a man right behind me. He was so close that I could have felt his breath on my neck.
When I looked at him, he hid his right hand behind his back. I swear he was going to attack me with something. The guy was a bit taller than me but skinny with a shaved head and grey-colored sickly skin. There was also no life in his eyes whatsoever. He just stood there and didn't say a thing. He also didn't reveal his right arm from behind his back, which made it creepier. I was on some new heart meds at the time to regulate my heart rate, so they made me tired easily, but I decided to keep walking just in case.
After walking for about 10 seconds, I looked back and he hadn't moved from the spot where I first saw him, he was just standing there watching me. Then, when I reached the bottom of the shortcut where there were people around, I waited to see if I would see him...but he never appeared. He obviously turned around and went back where he came from. He was heading down the same route as me originally, but for some reason, he went back the other way.
90. Too Far Gone
Not scary to me, but a danger to women and children. There was this one really weird tweaker from an inpatient substance treatment facility that I was in. There were regular counseling sessions and this guy hadn't answered any open-ended questions until about six days in. Prior to that day, he'd do weird things like stand up behind everyone in the group sessions and make chanting noises.
If I were a small person or female, I'd have been terrified of him. From the start, I didn't like him and I knew he was weird. At one point, we were asked by the counselor, "What makes you happy in life?" or something to that effect. His answer was absolutely shocking. He went on to say something obscene about a 5th grader using words I won't repeat.
There was never a moment in my life where it felt like time had stopped so abruptly and nothing was real. Did he just say that?! The worst part is it turned out he was a repeat offender. I knew in my bones he was not okay to be around. The look in his eyes was bereft of empathy, compassion, or intelligence. I've seen a million addicts and usually, they recover—but honestly, this guy seemed like there was no coming back from whatever demons he was struggling with. He was just that far gone.
91. Alarms Set-Off
I'm lucky I've had limited interaction with people who set my alarms off immediately. The first one that comes to mind was when I met my friend's stepdad. His mom was smart and good-looking, but she was too sensitive and agreeable for her own good. She had a tendency to pick guys who were basically defined by their red flags.
Her first husband was a guy who started out as a very handsome dude, but eventually did enough substances and lost his mind. But the second guy was something else. He loved MMA and for a while and was pretty fit; but at the same time, he was also a drinker and would have seizures if he withdrew. Oftentimes, his rage would also come out and he would do things like punch holes in doors while under the influence.
I met the second. We had almost no interaction, so all the stories I knew about him I knew second-hand. He had this way of entering a room and just immediately making things tense without saying anything. I remember all I did was turn to my buddy and say, "Dude... That guy's vibe is DARK". I never felt anything exactly equivalent to it.
He could get up off of the couch, grab a glass of water, and sit back down again, but the way he'd do it would make me feel like all the air went out of the room. He was super built, had a shaved head, and perpetually looked angry. Just the force with which he would sit down on the couch made me feel like I wanted to avoid eye contact so he wouldn't explode on me spontaneously. He was supposedly known for talking a lot about ending the lives of Muslims back while his drinking had still been out of control.
92. The Chill Cellmate
I got handcuffed with a buddy for consuming the green outside a bar in the alleyway. As we were waiting to get checked in, a dude wearing stripes and pink handcuffs walked by and looked at us two, holding up his fists to show the cuffs. He said, "This is what happens when you end someone’s life!" Well, he turned out to be our cellmate. After talking to him, we found out he was inside for four years, then got out for four days and decided he liked prison better. So, he did the most unimaginable thing—he went to his ex's house who narked on him and ended her life. Then, he called the officers on himself. Other than that, he turned out to be a chill guy.
93. Healthcare Labs See All Different Types
I worked at a place for three months, two days a week. There were many patients who gave me creepy vibes and acted weird. They usually came in with two guards and were cuffed to the reinforced dental chair. I saw their names and relevant medical history but didn’t know why they were there, apart from Peter Sutcliffe who I'd obviously heard about.
I did a check-up on him, took some X-rays, and gave him a small filling, but the whole time I was treating him, I was conscious of the things he'd done. The thought of 'accidentally' slipping with the drill and ripping his mouth up certainly crossed my mind more than once. I'm a professional and I would never do that, but I kind of enjoyed the thought I could have.
Overall, He was pretty quiet, but that's probably because he was on a few medications. Other patients I've had were more vocal, including one who told me, "You look like your thighs are tasty" while licking his lips. This dude spent the past 20 minutes lying in the chair and staring at me with an obvious trouser tent. I'm female and was 28 at the time. I was contracted for three months and didn't extend it when I was asked if I would.
95. Crocodile Tears
When I was 14, I went for a walk by myself on a dirt path. I passed some guy who was just sitting on a rock in the middle of the forest. I didn’t make eye contact with him, but I could see that he was crying. I wanted to help, but my gut told me not to. Three days later, I turned on the news and saw his picture. That's when I learned a shocking truth about that man—he had savagely slaughtered his wife and five-year-old daughter.
94. The Horrifying House Call
A few years ago, I was in desperate need of a job and a friend helped me get on with his company doing home health. I became a home health aide where I’d just go house to house, doing light housework and helping the client wash up. Most of these people were out in the boonies where I couldn’t get cell service and there wasn’t another home for miles.
This one client lived in such a place. He gave me weird vibes from the get-go. I showed up at his requested time, cleaned up his house, and helped him wash up. I asked if he needed anything else before I left—that’s when he turned on me. He grabbed me quickly, pulled me to him, and said, "Yeah, you can make love to me before you go".
This man, who supposedly was too weak to even shower himself, had a very tight grip on me and I couldn’t get away. It probably only lasted between five and ten seconds but it was terrifying. I was alone with this man in his home, with no cell service o landline. I was thinking that he could have done whatever he wanted to me.
I walk with pepper spray now.
96. I’ll Huff And I’ll Puff
When I was 14, we shared our house with another man who lived on the floor below us. I was home with my younger brother while our mom went out. All of a sudden, the man came screaming and banging on the door. He was yelling about how downstairs was flooding and it was coming from our bathroom. I didn't know what to do.
But because he was an adult, I trusted him and opened the door. He came in, ran into the bathroom, and did something. After I told my mom, she called management. What they told her was truly disturbing. There had never been a leak. There didn't find water marks or any other signs of flooding. So, my mom told us not to open the door for him again.
The next time my mom went out, he came banging on the door again. We told him that our mom said we shouldn't open the door for him. His reaction was terrifying. He did not appreciate that and he went absolutely crazy. "Let me in now!" He screamed over and over again all the while banging on the door. We never found out why he wanted to come in.
97. Howdy, Stranger
I was driving away from a gas station. Out of nowhere, a guy in a suit comes running up to my minivan and starts yanking the door. As if he knew me, he began pleading, "C’mon, LET ME IN". Luckily my doors were locked, and I asked him who the heck he was through my window. He looked genuinely surprised that I wouldn't let him in.
After I refused again, his facial expression inverted; as if he just realized something horrible. He let go of my car, said something to the effect of "You're one of them, aren't you?" Then he ran away behind the gas station and into the woods. Full suit and tie, nice shoes, extremely frantic in nature, zero explanation. The look in that man's eyes was pure terror when I didn't let him in.
