Scary Stories and Rain – Ep. 203: "Right Behind You"

Host: Being Scared
Release Date: August 20, 2025

Episode Overview

This atmospheric episode of Scary Stories and Rain (“Right Behind You”) invites listeners into the world of true and unsettling creepy encounters, narrated with the host’s gently hypnotic voice and the constant sound of soothing rainfall. This particular installment features five chilling tales of brushes with predatory strangers, near-misses with infamous criminals, and legendary unsolved mysteries. The stories range from childhood encounters and suburban danger to brushes with historical figures like Ted Bundy and the enigmatic D.B. Cooper.
Perfect for those who enjoy merging relaxation with a bit of late-night unease.

Key Stories & Discussion Points

1. The Stalker in the Park

[01:08–18:30]

• Setting: Texas suburbs, summer night.
• Narrative: A 14-year-old narrator goes for solitary nighttime walks, usually accompanied only by a concealed knife for safety. After singing alone at a deserted park, they spot a strangely pristine man in white who later reappears and methodically begins following them. Despite efforts to ignore or distance themselves, the man’s approach is relentless until the chance passing of a neighbor’s car provides a narrow window for escape.
• Twist: The neighbor’s father, who drove by, reveals there wasn’t just one man—a second, similarly dressed figure was waiting by a van at the estate’s entrance, implying a coordinated plan.
• Impact: The story drives home the importance of intuition, situational awareness, and trusting the bad feeling in your gut.

Quote:

"He watched me as I passed by and I tried to pretend that I didn't notice ... I didn't want or need to see the man in detail, partly because I was scared of the possibility of seeing something else too.” — [09:14]

Memorable Moment:
The gut-dropping realization, after a detailed recounting of anxiety and near-paralysis, that there were two men and a getaway vehicle, not just one.

2. A Brush with a Killer—The Professor’s Tale

[18:31–37:45]

• Setting: College campus, bar near university.
• Narrative: A literature professor, Dr. H, recalls a story from her college years. Her roommate "S" goes for drinks and meets an erudite, older man named Chris, who vacillates between charm and disturbing commentary. After an evening with him, she returns safely—only for campus lockdown hours later as a killer has brutally attacked several students. Two years later, S realizes, after seeing the news: the man she had drinks with was none other than Ted Bundy.
• Themes: The banality of evil, how predators blend in, and the terrifying near-miss of history.
• Quote:

“If Chris had asked me to go to his room 30 minutes into our conversation, I would have gladly gone... I wonder if I would be here right now. The man S had drinks with that night was Ted Bundy." — [37:26]

Memorable Moment:
The slow-build tension as Chris’s demeanor subtly but undeniably changes, punctuated by his offhand, “I wonder if anyone was beheaded,” in response to a tragic car accident news item.

3. Cablemen at the Back Door

[37:46–44:40]

• Setting: Quiet suburban fourplex, evening at home alone.
• Narrative: The narrator receives an unexpected knock at the little-used back door—two tall men claiming to be from the cable company. Their aggressive insistence and inability to provide ID shift the situation from odd to intimidating. With locked doors and a kitchen knife in hand, the narrator’s requests for identification spur the pair to suddenly vanish. Later, cable company confirms no techs were in the area.
• Impact: A tense depiction of how would-be intruders use plausible pretexts, and the sometimes-overlooked importance of locked doors.

Quote:

“We’re not having any issues, I repeated, trying not to convey shakiness of my voice. So you don’t need to be here.” — [42:02]

4. Punky’s Alarm—Dog Saves the Day

[44:41–56:00]

• Setting: Trailer in rural Texas, 11-year-old home alone with siblings.
• Narrative: A trio of small dogs and one large, gentle ESA dog named Punky become unusually alert, culminating in Punky’s first-ever aggressive bark. A strange salesman appears at the door with an odd, unlabeled bottle, attempting to coax entry. Simultaneously, someone attempts to break in through a bedroom window. Punky’s intervention—and aggressive display—scares both intruders off. The next day, the family sees the suspicious men attempting the same scheme at another house.
• Themes: The protective instincts of family pets and the value of vigilance.
• Quote:

“Alarms are going off in my head because he just seemed so off ... looking back with an adult perspective, the fact that he didn’t ask if my parents were home is unnerving…” — [48:30]

Memorable Moment:
The revelation that one man was a distractor at the door while another tried to sneak in through the window, and the note that Punky’s presence likely averted something much worse.

5. The Mystery of D.B. Cooper

[56:01–86:59]

• Historical Retelling: The host provides a lucid, detailed narration of the infamous 1971 D.B. Cooper airplane hijacking: an unknown man hijacks a Boeing 727, demands $200,000, four parachutes, and then vanishes after leaping into the stormy night somewhere over the Pacific Northwest—never to be conclusively found.
• Key Details:
  • Cooper’s cool, composed demeanor and extensive aviation knowledge set him apart from typical criminals.
  • Years-long investigation yields only a small cache of money in 1980, extensive theorizing, but no answer to the mystery.
  • Suggests Cooper’s background may have been military, CIA, or even Canadian, due to cultural and linguistic clues.
• Themes: The enduring allure of true crime mysteries, preparation and planning of perfect crimes, the power of mythos.

Quote:

"A remarkable aspect of the hijacking was Cooper's behavior during the ordeal. ... Florence Schaffner later described Cooper as being well spoken, calm and polite.” — [61:13]

Memorable Moment:
The haunting image of the abandoned jet—just Cooper’s black tie, his clip, and two parachutes left behind, as the FBI quietly admits defeat decades later.

Notable Quotes & Timestamps

• [09:14] — “He watched me as I passed by and I tried to pretend that I didn't notice ... I didn't want or need to see the man in detail, partly because I was scared of the possibility of seeing something else too.”
• [37:26] — “If Chris had asked me to go to his room 30 minutes into our conversation, I would have gladly gone... I wonder if I would be here right now. The man S had drinks with that night was Ted Bundy."
• [42:02] — “We’re not having any issues, I repeated, trying not to convey shakiness of my voice. So you don’t need to be here.”
• [48:30] — “Alarms are going off in my head because he just seemed so off ... looking back with an adult perspective, the fact that he didn’t ask if my parents were home is unnerving…”
• [61:13] — "A remarkable aspect of the hijacking was Cooper's behavior during the ordeal. ... Florence Schaffner later described Cooper as being well spoken, calm and polite.”

Episode Structure & Flow

• Opening (00:00–01:08): Greetings from the host; gentle rain ambiance sets the mood.
• Stories (01:08–86:59): Five distinct, immersive tales of true horror and near misses by the anonymous narrator or researched recountings.
• Closing: (Ad breaks and outro skipped per instruction.)

Tone & Atmosphere

The narration maintains a calm, methodical, first-person intimacy—even when recounting harrowing or historically significant encounters, suitable for chilling bedtime listening or rainy night reflection. The anecdotes, though unsettling, are told with a level of stoic detachment and subtle, somber authenticity that stands out from typical horror podcasts.

Takeaway

Scary Stories and Rain Episode 203 cleverly weaves together listener tales with infamous moments in true crime, all within an immersive, lulling rain soundscape. Through cautious suburban encounters, brushes with serial killers, the lifesaving instinct of pets, and the unsolvable mystery of D.B. Cooper, it blends sleep-friendly ambience with enough real-life fear to keep listeners' imaginations quietly churning.

For those who want to be disturbed, but not startled, and lulled into uneasy dreams, this episode is a can’t-miss entry in the series.