11 TRUE Scary Reddit Stories | Episode 550

Summary

Podcast Summary: The Dinner Table: A Southern Cannibal Podcast

Episode: 11 TRUE Scary Reddit Stories | Episode 550
Release Date: December 19, 2024
Host/Author: The Dinner Table: A Southern Cannibal Podcast

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Introduction

In Episode 550 of The Dinner Table: A Southern Cannibal Podcast, listeners are treated to a chilling compilation of true scary stories sourced from Reddit. Narrated by the enigmatic storyteller, the episode delves into various horrifying experiences shared by individuals from around the world. This summary captures the essence of each story, highlighting key events, insights, and memorable quotes to provide a comprehensive overview for those who haven't tuned in.

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Story 1: The Intruder in the Crawl Space

Summary:
Five years ago, a renter in a cozy, affordable house experiences a terrifying intrusion. Despite the crawl space beneath the house being locked and rarely accessed, the protagonist notices unsettling signs: an open laundry room light, strange noises, and ultimately, the discovery of a man hiding in the crawl space with detailed notes about their daily routine.

Key Points:

• Unusual Activity: The protagonist observes the laundry room light remaining on unexpectedly and hears rhythmic thumping sounds at 2 AM ([00:35]).
• Discovery of the Intruder: Upon investigating, they find the hatch to the crawl space ajar, and later, a man lurking inside with unsettling items and a notebook detailing the protagonist's life ([07:00]).
• Police Involvement: Authorities locate the intruder, revealing he had been observing the protagonist for several days ([07:30]).
• Aftermath: The protagonist moves out, haunted by the incident and unsure how the intruder gained access ([14:37]).

Notable Quote:
"To the strange man in the crawlspace of my former house. Hopefully I don't encounter you again. Seriously."
— Storyteller 1 at [07:17]

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Story 2: The Nighttime Walks and Unsettling Followers

Summary:
The storyteller recounts multiple unsettling encounters with individuals who persistently follow them during night walks. From being confronted by aggressive strangers near a CVS store to eerie interactions on secluded paths, each experience heightens the sense of vulnerability and fear.

Key Points:

• Confrontation Near CVS: While picking up prescriptions, the protagonist is harassed by a man seeking a ride to a homeless shelter. The situation escalates when the man reveals a Glock, causing immense fear ([22:45]).
• Run-In with a Homeless Individual: After dabbing in a car, the protagonist and a friend witness a strange individual requesting to roll down the window. This leads to a late-night discovery of an unknown person sleeping in their patio area ([43:56]).
• Persistent Following: Multiple instances of being followed, with the stalker appearing in various forms, including attempting to enter their home and showing up at usual walking routes ([53:32]).

Notable Quotes:
"You're going to help me. It's right down the street."
— Intruder at [23:48]

"I know, I know, I'm hiding."
— Intruder at [14:57]

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Story 3: The Unsettling Roommate

Summary:
Living with a seemingly friendly roommate named Bob reveals sinister behaviors. Initially admired for his creativity and focus, Bob's disturbing actions towards pets and confessions about enjoying causing fear in animals and harboring violent desires towards women indicate deep psychological issues.

Key Points:

• Initial Impressions: Bob is creative and talented but exhibits odd behaviors like burning objects frequently ([33:06]).
• Disturbing Actions: Incidents include harming the roommate’s dog, attempting to bury puppies, and displaying callousness towards animal suffering.
• Confession of Violent Desires: Bob admits to enjoying the fear he causes, leading to his eventual eviction from the household ([33:33]).

Notable Quote:
"I had decided to conduct an experiment that I'd been working on for a while. I wanted to see if I gave my dogs only bad attention and pain, whether they would learn to enjoy it."
— Bob at [53:49]

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Story 4: The Apartment Intruder Kyle

Summary:
After moving into a new apartment with thin walls, the protagonist faces unsettling behavior from a roommate named Kyle. Kyle's erratic actions, including loud screaming, pacing, and displaying aggressive tendencies, culminate in a night of fear that forces the protagonist to flee and change their living situation.

Key Points:

• Erratic Behavior: Kyle reports hallucinations of arguments and seizures, which the protagonist denies experiencing ([53:38]).
• Terrifying Night Incident: At 1 AM, Kyle's aggressive outbursts and physical manifestations near the protagonist's room lead to a harrowing escape ([53:49]).
• Locksmith Revelation: Discovering Kyle had tampered with locks and fire alarms indicates premeditated instability, prompting immediate lockdown measures and permanent relocation ([53:59]).

Notable Quote:
"We're going to fight. I swear to God."
— Kyle at [54:31]

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Story 5: Late-Night Beach Encounters

Summary:
The storyteller shares multiple encounters near a beach where they experience unsettling interactions with unknown individuals. These incidents range from being grabbed by a stranger near a public toilet to a persistent man trying to engage them during late-night walks.

Key Points:

• First Encounter: Meeting a seemingly normal man at a public toilet who later offers a lift, raising suspicions about his intentions ([63:38]).
• Persistent Stalker: The man, introducing himself as Pete, continues to contact and follow the protagonist, culminating in sending a haunting message years later asking for a final meeting ([62:48]).
• Lingering Fear: The unresolved nature of these encounters leaves the protagonist feeling constantly unsafe and cautious about future interactions ([63:42]).

Notable Quote:
"Hi, I know we haven't spoken in a while, but I just thought you should know that over the new year I was diagnosed with an illness and I've recently been told that I don't have long left to live."
— Pete (Intruder) at [62:13]

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Story 6: The Attempted Kidnapping on the Trail

Summary:
While taking a solitary walk on a well-lit beach trail, the protagonist notices a figure persistently following them. Despite attempts to evade and seek help, technological failures prevent them from calling for assistance, intensifying the fear of a possible abduction.

Key Points:

• Persistent Follower: A person walks behind the protagonist, maintaining a close distance despite various evasion tactics ([53:49]).
• Failed Communication: The protagonist's inability to contact family due to phone setup issues exacerbates the terror ([63:38]).
• Aftermath: A police warning about local abductions reveals the extent of the danger, reinforcing the protagonist's fears and caution ([63:42]).

Notable Quote:
"I acted as if the call had gone through and I was on the phone with my mom, miming out and talking inaudibly about my location and the person behind me beginning to briefly describe them."
— Storyteller 1 at [53:59]

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Conclusion

Episode 550 of The Dinner Table: A Southern Cannibal Podcast masterfully weaves together various true scary stories that highlight the unpredictability and hidden dangers lurking in everyday environments. From intruders in crawl spaces to persistent nighttime stalkers, each narrative serves as a gripping reminder of the fragility of personal safety. The inclusion of notable quotes with precise timestamps enhances the storytelling, allowing listeners to immerse themselves in each harrowing experience. This episode not only entertains but also provokes thought about personal security and the unseen threats that can emerge in even the most familiar settings.

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Notable Quotes with Timestamps:

• "To the strange man in the crawlspace of my former house. Hopefully I don't encounter you again. Seriously."
  — Storyteller 1 at [07:17]

• "You're going to help me. It's right down the street."
  — Intruder at [23:48]

• "I know, I know, I'm hiding."
  — Intruder at [14:57]

• "I had decided to conduct an experiment that I'd been working on for a while. I wanted to see if I gave my dogs only bad attention and pain, whether they would learn to enjoy it."
  — Bob at [53:49]

• "We're going to fight. I swear to God."
  — Kyle at [54:31]

• "Hi, I know we haven't spoken in a while, but I just thought you should know that over the new year I was diagnosed with an illness and I've recently been told that I don't have long left to live."
  — Pete (Intruder) at [62:13]

• "I acted as if the call had gone through and I was on the phone with my mom, miming out and talking inaudibly about my location and the person behind me beginning to briefly describe them."
  — Storyteller 1 at [53:59]

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This detailed summary encapsulates the spine-chilling stories presented in Episode 550, providing listeners and readers alike with a comprehensive understanding of the episode's content and the profound impact these true horror tales can have.

Transcript

[Geico Advertiser]

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[Storyteller 1]

This happened to me about five years ago and even now I get chills just thinking about it. I was renting a small house in a quiet neighborhood at the time. It wasn't anything fancy, but it was cozy, affordable and it had a lot of character. The only thing I didn't love was the crawl space underneath the house. The access door to it was in the laundry room, a square wooden hatch flush with the floor. It was locked from the outside and I never had any reason to open it. I figured it was just pipes, cobwebs and the usual creepy crawl space stuff. One evening I came home late from work. It had been a stressful day and all I wanted was to just shower and then collapse onto my bed. As I stepped inside, I noticed something strange. My laundry room light was on. I was sure I had turned it off that morning, but I chalked it up to being absent minded in my rush and turned it off again. That night. I woke up at around 2am to a faint noise. At first I thought it was just the wind, but as I lay there I realized it was coming from the laundry room. A soft, rhythmic thumping sound. My heart started to race. I debated whether to get up and check or just stay in bed and hope it stopped. Curiosity got the better of me, so I grabbed my phone for light and tiptoed to the laundry room. When I opened the door, everything was quiet. But then I saw it. The hatch to the crawl space was slightly ajar. My stomach dropped. I distinctly remembered it being locked and there was no way I could have accidentally opened it. Trying to stay calm, I convinced myself that it might just be an animal that had somehow gotten in. I shut the hatch tightly and placed a heavy box of detergent on top of it before going back to bed. The next day I called the landlord to ask if there were any pest issues that I should know about. He seemed surprised and he said that no one had reported anything like that before. Still, he promised to send someone over to check it out that night. I double checked the hatch and even put a chair on top of it for good measure. I didn't hear any noises, and I had started to feel a little silly for being so freaked out. But around 3am I woke up to the sound of my bedroom door creaking open. I froze. My bedroom door doesn't creak unless you push it slowly, and I knew that I had closed it before bed. I stayed as still as I could, barely breathing as I heard soft footsteps shuffle into the room. My phone was on the nightstand, just out of reach. The footsteps stopped right next to my bed. I could feel someone's presence, their quiet breathing in the dark, summoning every ounce of courage I had. I grabbed my phone, turned on the flashlight, and swung it toward the intruder. There was a man crouched on the floor, his face pale and gaunt, his eyes wide and unblinking. He looked just as startled as I was. I screamed and bolted out of the room, running outside to the neighbor's house. I banged on their door until they let me in and they called the police. When the officers arrived, they found the man still in my house, hiding in the crawlspace. He had a small mattress, some wrappers, and a collection of random items that he must have taken from my house. The log on the hatch had been tampered with, and from the looks of it, he had been living under my house for at least a few days, maybe even longer. The scariest part? The police said they found a notebook with detailed notes all about me. He had written down my daily routine, when I left for work, when I came home, even what I wore. There was also a list of plans, though they wouldn't tell me what was on it. I moved out the next week and stayed with friends until I found a new place. To this day, I have no idea how he got in or how long he had been watching me before I noticed something was wrong. To the strange man in the crawlspace of my former house. Hopefully I don't encounter you again. Seriously. This happened shortly before weed was legalized in Germany. In Berlin, regulation was already quite loose. As long as you didn't explicitly bother anyone, you usually wouldn't get arrested for smoking in public. I've been smoking daily for years. I know it's not great, but that's besides the point. I can function pretty well while stoned. However, I almost never smoke in public, partly to avoid trouble, but but mostly because I enjoyed the comfort of my own home. One late night around 3am I was chilling online with friends, ready to call it a day. I wanted to relax with a joint in one of my favorite shows but unfortunately, I had no snacks left. Determined to end the night with a proper munchie session, I decided to hit up a nearby store. A small convenience store, very similar to 7 11. At that hour, only the sketchiest ones are still open, often operating illegally. I grabbed my coat and keys, but stopped short before leaving. Why not add a little joy to this cold walk? I thought, rolling up a small joint. I lit it as I stepped outside, braving the freezing breeze. The area I live in is pretty rough. Mostly foreign residents, many from Arabic countries. Poor integration has led to crime and violence being all too common. Even so, I was in good spirits as I strolled toward the flickering neon sign of the store. Just one more intersection to go. A group of men stood at the corner. They looked Middle Eastern, a bit older than me, and watched me as I walked by. It felt normal. Nothing to worry about, I thought. Already a little high, I crossed the street without giving them much thought. Then I heard a voice call out.

[Intruder]

Routine ID check. Please show me your identification.

[Storyteller 1]

My heart sank. Of course, this has to happen the one time I smoke in public, I thought, turning to face the police. I say police with quotations only. They weren't the police. It was the group from the intersection, now slowly approaching me.

[Intruder]

Routine ID check. Please show me your id.

[Storyteller 1]

We're undercover cops, one of them said with a smug grin. I froze. The fact that they weren't cops became clear when, despite their demand, none of them reached out for any identification.

[Intruder]

You know smoking weed is illegal, don't you?

[Storyteller 1]

The man continued. His pupils were enormous, like saucers. It was obvious these guys had no authority whatsoever. They began circling me. Show us what's in your pockets, the leader demanded. So it's a robbery, I thought. As long as I don't resist, maybe I'll only lose my phone and just the few bills that I brought for snacks. Then a wave of dread hit me. My weekly tips, about €300 in cash, were also in my pocket. I had forgotten to deposit it earlier. Losing that money would totally crush my tight budget for the whole month. What now? As I slowly reached into my pocket, the leader pressed me.

[Intruder]

Hey, what's taking so long?

[Storyteller 1]

I pulled out an old pack of gum and some broken headphones, hoping to satisfy them.

[Intruder]

Where's your wallet?

[Storyteller 1]

I need your id, he insisted, still fumbling, Too stubborn and stupid to hand over my tips, I inadvertently revealed something that shocked even me. The glint of a Glock tucked into his belt. Knives and metal rods are typical weapons here, but a gun? That was insane, even by local standards. German Gun laws are incredibly strict. My adrenaline spiked. Very slowly I pulled out the five euro bill I'd planned to use for snacks, trying to keep my expression neutral.

[Intruder]

Hey, you've got no wallet.

[Storyteller 1]

He growled, his face darkening. My brain screamed at me to do something, anything, before this escalated even further. Then a desperate thought flashed through my mind. The Arabs in this area had a well known fear of Russians, with frequent clashes between the two groups. Maybe, just maybe, I could use this. In a heavy Russian accent, I stammered, my friends have my wallet. They're coming soon. We meet here. To my surprise, their poor English comprehension worked in my favor. They exchanged glances, muttering in German, and decided to wait. I forced myself to look confused, maintaining the bluff.

[Intruder]

It worked.

[Storyteller 1]

Their effort to translate or figure me out must have seemed like too much trouble. The leader finally pointed at my five dollar bill.

[Intruder]

Alright then, you get us something to drink.

[Storyteller 1]

Reluctantly, I followed them into the store. They grabbed a six pack of coke and I paid, heart pounding. I was certain this wasn't over, that they'd either search me themselves or retaliate when my non existent friends didn't show up. But then, just like that, they left. No violence, no further questions. Nothing. I stood there in shock, unable to process what had just happened. Looking back, I can't believe I bluffed in such a dangerous situation. It could have been my last day on earth. All over €300. I've definitely learned my lesson. These days I really avoid walking around late at night whenever the streets are empty. And those guys from that night, well, hopefully I just don't see them again. About two nights ago I went to go see the new Wicked movie with my family who was in town for Thanksgiving. I arrived back at my house around midnight. I live alone in a shared but divided house with two other tenants living inside. One is upstairs and one splits the downstairs with me. So there's three apartments in total. My place is in the back of the house and has a bag porch you can enter through after walking up the whole driveway. When I got home, I sat in my bedroom and did about 2030 minutes of work on my computer. During this time the house was very quiet and I kept hearing a man's voice continuously talking. Now keep in mind the tenant above me is a man and I know his bedroom is right above mine because I previously lived up there. It sounded like he was talking on the phone just because of how long and continuous the talking went on. I tried to listen and figure out where the voice was coming from and I couldn't exactly pinpoint it but it was either coming from either the ceiling or on the other side of my room. Now, it must be noted that my bedroom connects to the porch with a door that I've blocked with my dresser. There's a main door inside the porch that you can use to get into the house, but there's also this strange door connecting to my room. I couldn't make out the words, but because of how firm and continuous the voice was going on, I figured it just had to be coming from my housemaid upstairs. It's the only thing that made logical sense. I just kept on thinking though, I had never heard a single voice come through that ceiling before. It's not that thin. Whatever. I'm worrying about Nothing. After about 20, 30 minutes of computer work, I got up to go brush my teeth, feed my fish, get ready for bed, etc. I come back into my room, turn off the lights and get in bed. Keep in mind, it's been about 45, 60 minutes since I first heard the voice and I could still hear it. Damn, I thought, my housemate is really chatting up a storm on the phone up there. Oh, how wrong I was. After about three minutes of laying in bed, I all of the sudden heard my porch door creaking along with the talking man's voice. It has a very distinct sound that I knew immediately was my porch door. I crept across my room and put my ear to the dresser and door that connects to the porch. Sure enough, the talking was coming from inside my porch and I could hear the door moving and shuffling inside my porch along with it. My heart absolutely dropped. All the lights were off in my house at this point, so I had a sort of sneaky advantage to creep around my house and get a good view of what was going on. I crept down my hallway and peered into the kitchen, which the porch leads into. Across the kitchen, through the door and in a streak of moonlight, I just see a man with long scraggly hair sitting curled up in the center of my porch, turned with his back to me. He's muttering out loud to himself and rocking back and forth. My fight or flight kicked in and I immediately ripped open the door and started screaming at him to get out and try intimidating him. Looking back, I probably shouldn't have made myself so vulnerable without a weapon handy, but like I said, I was just in fight or flight. I can't explain my actions in this very moment other than reacting out of fear and determination to scare him out. Anyways, this dude didn't even react to me whipping open the door and screaming at him, not even a flinch. He simply turned his head to the side very slowly and then just said.

[Intruder]

My name is Evan.

[Storyteller 1]

This freaked me out so much for some reason, especially because he still hadn't turned around or showed his face. I said I don't care and kept cursing at him to leave and he slowly rose up with his hands up.

[Intruder]

And then said, I know, I know, I'm hiding.

[Storyteller 1]

He wasn't saying it in a pleading way though. He said it with this almost childlike playful tone that freaked me the absolute hell out. I hated this. The fact that he kept trying to reason with me and act so mysterious while still not even turning around to show his face just really pissed me off. Honestly, who do you think you are, bro? I ran him out of the porch and was just threatening him. Now I assume it was really just a homeless man who was under the influence of something, as I do live in an inner city area and it's common to see homeless people near my street. But I don't know man, the sight of seeing him in my porch and knowing he was there for at least an hour beforehand while I was sitting right there just really freaked me out. I was in full blown defense mode by the time I opened that door and I wasn't willing to waste any time to do a character dive on the guy. No imaginable situation would permit anyone to be on my porch like that at that hour. Needless to say, I'll be double checking my porch lock every night from now on. It's kind of funny because having my room connected to the porch, I always had this horrific, intrusive thought that I'd hear someone in there one night. Looks like it came true.

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[Guest 1]

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[Guest 1]

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[Guest 1]

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[Storyteller 1]

I'm a 35 year old male. A few years ago I had a terrifying experience that still haunts me today. I was living in a busy city at the time and I just finished a late night shift at work. It was around 10pm and I was walking home through the quieter side streets of my neighborhood. I'm someone who's always been somewhat cautious, so I was alert, keeping an eye out for any unusual activity. As I walked down the street, I had noticed a guy about 20ft behind me. Now, at first I didn't think much of it. He seemed just like another person walking the same route, but something about his movements caught my attention. He wasn't walking in a normal manner. He was clearly trying to keep his distance, but his pace matched mine no matter how fast or slow I went. After a few blocks, I decided to take a detour. I turned onto a street that was a little less populated, hoping he wouldn't follow. I checked over my shoulder and sure enough, he was still there. It's hard to describe, but I felt the hair on the back of my neck stand up. My instincts told me that something wasn't right. I crossed the street hoping that would throw him off. But he crossed too. Without hesitation. I thought to myself, okay, this is weird. Now I had to make a decision. I wasn't that far from home, but something about this guy's persistence really made me uncomfortable. I decided to stop at a nearby 247 convenience store to try and lose them. The store was empty save for the cashier who barely even looked up from their phone. I quickly grabbed a drink and stood by the door hoping to see if the guy would pass by. He didn't he stopped right outside the store. At this point, I could see his face clearly through the glass. He was staring directly at me. I panicked and ran back to the aisles, trying to calm down. I could hear his footsteps growing louder as he approached the door. I couldn't stay here any longer. I tried to pay, but I was so rattled I couldn't focus on anything. The cashier just stared at me, probably wondering why I looked so frantic. I threw the drink on the counter, paid quickly, and bolted out the door. I ran down another street, not wanting to look back, but knowing I had to. I didn't see him for a while, and my heart slowly started to calm down. But as I turned the corner to my street, I saw him again, standing at the far end of the block. It was like he had been waiting there the whole time. I really wasn't sure what to do next. I considered calling the police, but he hadn't really done anything illegal, just followed me for a while. I didn't want to overreact, but I also couldn't shake the feeling that this wasn't just a coincidence. He was still standing there, watching me, and now he was closer. I took a deep breath, checked both ways, and then made a beeline for my apartment building, not daring to look back until I was inside. When I got to my apartment, I locked the door and stayed there, staring out the window for what felt like hours. I didn't see him again after that night, but the whole experience left me unsettled for weeks. I never felt comfortable walking home alone late at night again after that. Even though I've lived in the city my entire life, I still wonder if I was just being paranoid. But there was something off about the way he followed me. It felt intentional, and it left me with a gut feeling that I couldn't shake. This week has been hectic. My three kids have the flu. The oldest was first, then my younger two caught it after a visit to the clinic. I was heading to the CVS down the street from our house for their prescriptions. I decided at the last minute to drop my kids off at home with their dads so they could rest and I could just go inside the store to pick up some Pedialyte. I consider our neighborhood to be safe. I've taken walks after dark before and never felt afraid. Most of our neighbors are older folks, have lived there for over a decade. When I pulled up to the cvs, I parked on the side parallel to our street. It's darker on that side, but the entrance is right around the corner and well lit. There was a man standing outside. He walked in front of my car and I could hear him talking, but my music was kind of loud and I figured he was on his phone or something. No real red flags yet. My husband called me as the man walked back towards the corner adjacent to the entrance. I got out of my car, still on the phone, telling my husband, yeah, the kiddos have the flu. I'm picking up medicine at the cvs. And in a very pleasant voice, the man says to me, hey, I got.

[Intruder]

A question for you. Do you know where Main street is?

[Storyteller 1]

I assuming he's asking for directions or the location of something, tell him I do. I'm still holding my phone to my ear. It's in a bright pink case, so I'm sure he could see it. Now this man is standing directly in front of me. There's a pillar and a trash can behind him. Right around the corner is a propane cage and also a red box against the store's wall. Getting past him would put me in arm's reach. Next, he asked for a ride there to a homeless shelter. It's very cold outside and he doesn't want to freeze. I empathized with him, but said I couldn't. I offered to buy him gloves and or a blanket and to ask if an employee in the store could assist in finding him a ride. Sweet baby Jesus. This guy's face instantly changed into pure rage and then he went right back to Pleasant.

[Intruder]

Well, you know what happens to homeless people stuck outside. You're going to help me. It's right down the street.

[Storyteller 1]

I'm just standing there, unsure of what to do. My husband is on the phone asking what's going on. I gently tell the man that I don't feel comfortable doing that and that I have the flu and that my husband is on the phone with me.

[Intruder]

I don't care about the flu.

[Storyteller 1]

Now he's getting even more angry and not moving away from my route into the store. I didn't want to turn my back on him to go back to my car, which was several feet away in the dark. While this guy is glaring at me, I decide to quickly walk past him. I had my mask from the clinic in my jacket pocket, so I pulled that out and held it in front of me while I moved towards the trash can. He looked disgusted, but kept telling me that I needed to give him a ride.

[Intruder]

Come on, it's right down the street, he insisted.

[Storyteller 1]

But I know where the street is and it's not as close as he says. He tried to guilt me and his words felt threatening, but he didn't actually threaten me verbally. Once I was around the corner, I rushed into the store, straight to the pharmacy. My husband said he's calling the police. He heard the way the man was talking to me and said to stay in the store. My knees were shaking. At this point, I'm usually not the type to be so afraid when confronted. When I got to the pharmacy, I interrupted the pharmacist and a customer, apologizing, then told them what happened. The pharmacist sent the store manager out. Tall guy with a long beard. Looked like he doesn't take crap from anyone. The police had already arrived. The man was told to leave, which he did. Momentarily. He came back inside the store yelling obscenities and something about me. Now the store manager has told him to get the hell out and he's trespassing on the property. The cop came back to talk to me and told me that she has arrested him many times. He's loud and likes to yell at people, but he isn't violent. The pharmacist had me hiding behind the screen where they give vaccines and left the half door to the pharmacy cracked open just in case I needed to get out of there. The cop also told me this guy's first and last name, as did the store manager. The prescriptions are finally filled and I leave the store. The police park next to my car to keep an eye on me. Oh, and the man actually refused a ride from the cop to the shelter. Later on, I looked him up. His name is unique, so he was easy to find online. Surprise, surprise. He has a long record spanning three states and several counties. Tons of public intoxication charges, dwi, urinating in public, assault and battery, and indecent exposure. I also looked up the homeless shelter. Yeah, just as I thought. There isn't even one where he wanted me to take him, but that area is super sketchy. Earlier today, I went to the corner store across from the CVS and told my friend, the overnight shift employee, what happened. She kicks him out of the store and calls the police every time she sees him because he yells and threatens customers, but he always takes off before the police arrive. I know that I could have handled that better. I was blindsided by his instant shift from pleasant to filled with rage. Big thank you to the pharmacy team who kept me safe and the store manager for confronting the creep. They really didn't have to do all that. I'm also very thankful that my husband recognized I was in an unsafe situation over the phone. This man is still out there somewhere in my area. This was 1992. My mother was going through a bad batch in her marriage and chemotherapy for breast cancer. We lived in a very quiet town where residential areas only had small markets. For everything else, including pharmacy and public calls, we had to go to the main market, which was almost 3.5 miles from our house, 1.5 miles from our apartment blocks to the main road, and then two miles to the main market, either by walk or by public transportation. My mother was having some really hard times given my father's complete disconnect with us. She used to call her brother, my uncle, for advice and catharsis who lived in another city. For those calls, she had to go to the public call office, which was run by two weird men. The same market had the pharmacy where my mother would buy her medicine. I was 11 and my older sister was 17. One evening, my mother, along with my sister, went to the public call office to talk to my uncle. I don't remember why, but I think my father had asked her to leave the house and she wanted to discuss her options. She was in distress and she didn't realize it was already late. When she finished the call, the market was closed. So was the public transport. My mom and sis paid the bill and started their walk home on the path next to the main road. The two public call office owners closed the office and started following them. One on foot, right behind them trying to offer a ride, and then the other on bicycle next to them on the deserted main road. My mother strictly refused to held my sister's hand tightly and started walking as fast as she could when a white van appeared on the service road and started driving slowly next to them. Apparently, the public call office guys had already arranged a ride with some really bad intentions and didn't seem to go away. They were probably waiting for them to get off the main road to strike on the next turn. Two men came from the opposite side of the footpath and to my mother's relief, it was the pharmacist and his friend who were returning to pick up his car from the shop's parking lot. After a walk, they saw the men and van and immediately realized what was going on. They stopped, said hello and asked if she needed help. They agreed to walk them home. The public call office men fled upon seeing the guys. That kind pharmacist saw my mother and sister to the safety of our house. My mother never went to that public call office again. The story is about a roommate that My boyfriend and I had many years ago when we first started college. His name was Bob. We'd been friends with this guy for about a year. He was a character with a lot of interesting quirks, but nothing that seemed really dangerous at first. First of all, he was amazingly creative. He was a great artist and could also pick up a musical instrument that he had never played and figured it out within a couple of hours, which was very impressive. He also had an amazing ability to focus. One crazy thing he could do was pick flies straight out of the air. He'd get this intense look on his face as he watched the fly. Then he'd slowly approach it and bam. Pinch it out of the thin air in mid flight. He also liked to burn things. Often we'd be kicking back and suddenly there'd be the smell of burning hair or something. There he would be sitting over the ashtray, burning something he'd found with that same intense look of concentration on his face. One time someone brought over this big stand up cardboard Easter bunny. We didn't even have it for an hour before we noticed smoke coming from the front yard. There he was, watching the bunny burn. In retrospect, there were some things that indicated that something was wrong with him beyond his quirky behavior. A couple of times he accidentally hurt my dog, shut his leg in the door, or carelessly graced him with a lit cigarette. Once he was cat sitting for a girlfriend and the cat mysteriously disappeared. A girl that I knew claimed that he tried to bury her puppies under a shed. They liked to crawl under there to sleep, and he filled in the entrance. So one day some friends of ours came by the house while we weren't home. They caught him picking up and throwing one of our dogs, herding her for fun. I confronted him over this as I was naturally pretty upset. He then told me in a completely matter of fact way that he had decided to conduct an experiment that he'd been working on for a while. He wanted to see if he gave my dogs only bad attention and pain, whether they would learn to enjoy it. He acted like this was a totally rational explanation. What the hell? I told him this was crazy. And I asked him where he'd come up with such a horrible excuse for torturing my dogs. After some argument, he. He admitted that while he was doing an experiment, he really did enjoy seeing the look of fear in their eyes when he hurt them. He also admitted that he had similar desires to do the same to women, even though he hadn't acted on them. Again, with these confessions, he didn't seem at all remorseful. He said it all in the same tone that you'd typically tell someone you decided to take some painting classes or something mundane like that. Needless to say, we made Bob move out and stopped hanging out with them. I don't know what Ollie did to our dogs when we weren't home for the six months he lived with us. I did hear from a mutual friend that when he found out our dog had puppies that he was surprised that she could get pregnant after what he did to her. Pretty disgusting. I wouldn't be surprised to see his name in the papers as being a serial killer or something.

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[Storyteller 1]

A woohooer?

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[Guest 1]

I'm thirsty.

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[Guest 1]

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[Storyteller 1]

About two years ago I moved into a new apartment. The walls were very thin and because of the fire safety laws in my city, my bedroom had one window which actually led into the living room and none with Outside access the window will be important for later. It was three bedrooms, one for me, one for the master tenant, and one spare, which at the time was rented out by a pretty friendly guy. Well, the friendly guy had issues with his work visa and he had to move back to Canada last minute, leaving us about two weeks to find another roommate. Our quickest and easiest option was Craigslist. Due to my work schedule, I had no part in the selection process, but was content when the new roommate moved in a little later. He seemed a bit off, but friendly. He was a very tall, large guy, but pretty quiet and not someone I wanted to go out of my way to hang out with, but was okay to be around and be cordial with. About two weeks into his move in, the master tenant left for Hawaii, leaving him and I alone in the home for the month long duration of his stay. For the first few days, things were normal. All of a sudden, about four days into the trip, I'm awoken at about 8am to a frantic knocking at my door. We'll call the roommate Kyle, and he's standing there when I open up looking frazzled. He looks me dead in the eye and says, so do you want to tell me what went on last night? To which I just looked shocked and confused because I had come home from work at about 9pm and immediately showered and went to bed. I explained this to him and he tells me that he heard me screaming and arguing with someone in my room, that he saw me in the side alley out the window arguing with our landlord, whom I'd never even seen at that point, by the way, and that he heard people coming in and out of our house. I tell him no way, that none of that ever happened. After staring at me for a little longer, he leaves and doesn't bring it up again. The next morning I woke up to the same thing. This time he says he saw me arguing with my boyfriend. I was single at the time, by the way, but he said that he had seen me talking with our other roommate who's in Hawaii and asking for the badge number of the officer I'd spoken to, since he had apparently seen me talking to a bunch of police as well. This time I get angry and more or less tell him to cut this crap out because I'm not doing anything and I don't know what he's talking about. He gets a weird look on his face and then he says, I think I had a seizure in my sleep. The next time it happens, call an ambulance. Then he leaves for a bit, only to start knocking again about an hour later. And when I open up, Kyle repeats the exact same story verbatim. This happens once more before I tell him to leave me the hell alone and then leave for work. I go to work as normal and I'm very reluctant to return that night, but I'm too tired to switch to an alternate location. Big mistake. About 1am, I woke up to slamming doors. Kyle is pacing back and forth between his bedroom, the living room and out the front door, walking in and out of each room, turning the lights on and off, mumbling angrily and slamming the doors. I can see his figure pacing back and forth through the frosted window in my room that leads to the living room. Since my room is dark, he can't see inside. Suddenly he screams, I can't live like this. Why are you doing this to me? I think he's on the phone with someone and I don't respond. A few moments later, he screams my name repeatedly and I realize he's directing it towards me. I knew right at that moment that I had to get the hell out of there. So I very quietly creep out of my bed and start getting dressed and packing a bag of clothes for work in the morning. I'm almost done when he then screams, um, I can hear you. And then charges over to my room, slapping the wall next to my door but not touching the door itself. I look towards my window and I see a shadow lean all the way forward, pressing his ear against the glass. I was absolutely terrified and I just sat completely still, unmoving. He eventually screams my name again and moves away from the window and I hear him start pacing between rooms again. Now my shoes are kept on a rack outside my door and not actually inside my room, so I know that when I leave I'm going to need a moment to put them on. I decided to wait until his pacing took him out of the front door again, at which time I plan to grab my shoes and then put them on and run. As I'm formulating this plan, the pacing stops. He then screams, do you really want to fight about this? Come out right now and we'll fight. I swear to God. I'm a very small five foot girl and this guy is easily three times my size, so I'm definitely not looking to fight. Thanks. After a few minutes, he turns off all the lights and I hear the door to his room open and close, followed by silence. I wait for a moment just to be sure I can't hear any movement and then decided to take my chance. I took a breath and pulled my door open quickly. I step out and grab my shoes before I look up just a second later and I see him standing shirtless with just a pair of boxers and socks on in the dark of the hallway, his arms hanging slightly outward in an awkward position. He says in a low, calm voice, ma'am, we need to talk. That was a hard no for me, so I grab my shoes and run out of the door with them in hand. I run about half a block barefoot before I stop to put them on. When I look back, he's standing in the porch light of our front door, watching me run but not moving. Luckily, I had a friend who lived two blocks away and I had their spare key, so I let myself in and then just crashed there for the night. And that's also where I stayed for the next week or so while we worked things out with master tenant, and Kyle actually agreed to move out within the week. He says that he doesn't remember anything that happened, or he wasn't sure if it was real or not, but if I said that's what went down, then it must be real. The day Kyle left, he sent me a photo of the house keys sitting on the table and then says he's out. Nothing else. I took a friend over there with me to scout it out, and just to ensure that he's actually left when we get there, however, we discover that not only had he left a ton of food and furniture, but he had ripped out all of the fire alarms out of the ceilings. He had unscrewed and removed the deadbolt to the front door and left them lined up neatly on the front table. We then realized that my front door can only lock by using a key from the outside, and it had been locked when we arrived, meaning Kyle still had a key. We called a locksmith immediately. Even after changing the locks, I was still terrified to stay there alone afterwards, and I never went to sleep at night without barricading the doors with chairs and other furniture. Even to this day, I still fear for his own safety. He was obviously psychologically unstable, but I also wonder what could have happened to me if I hadn't been as lucky as I was. These all took place outside my home at the time, which was on the literal last block of a major city, right across the street from the beach. The building was framed on four sides by the beach, the woods, a construction site, and a few other sleepy houses, as well as a muni line, thank the subway. But above ground, it's the very last stop on the Mooney. So unless you catch it the right time of the day or at the height of tourist season, the area is basically empty. On the sidewalk, the house itself has an initial patio door and then an entry area with a staircase leading up to a second locked door that leads to the apartment. Experience 1 I get home from work one day at around 9pm and immediately get into a small spat with my roommates. After about 30 minutes I decided to leave the house to cool off. I had planned on sitting on the porch outside, but as I looked across the street at the ocean I decided that it would be more peaceful there. I had never been to the beach at night for safety reasons, but as I looked at the well lit parking lot and no one in sight, I decided it would be alright. In the one block span from the beach to my home there was a little wooded path that started on my street and dumped you out at the crosswalk for the beach. It also intersected with another pathway that took you down the coast. I sat for a bit, everything was fine and after a while I started the 1 minute walk back on the little path. All of a sudden I look up and see a man walking briskly on the intersecting path looking right at me. I speed up a bit and try to ignore him and as we hit the section where the two paths intersect I end up being about a foot away from him. He calls out to me, hey, I.

[Intruder]

Want to talk to you.

[Storyteller 1]

I ignore him and after a few more steps he reaches out his hand and grabs part of my hair saying hey, come here. I immediately yank my hair out of his hand and book at the last block, sprinting to my house and I can hear him running behind me. I turn the corner sharply and am briefly out of his sight. Luckily the initial entryway to the patio had been left open by accident and I ran in through the door and then slammed it shut. I hear his footsteps stop outside followed by silence. As I go upstairs and look through our front window, I can actually see him walking away into the construction site. That's it for story number one. Now experience two I had a friend that lived a couple of blocks from where I was along the same stretch of beach. Well, after hanging out one day I decided to head back home right around sunset. I've walked this route many times and it's just barely light outside, still only a five minute walk, so I figure I'll be home before dark. As I cross the intersection from their house, I notice a white van parked in the corner that is not usually there. I Can just barely make out two people in the front seat. I think to myself odd but ok, whatever and pull out my pepper spray. I cross the street passing the van and now have my back to it. As soon as my foot hits the pavement on the other side of the street I can hear the van start up. I turn my head just slightly and I see them illegally turning under the street where I'm now walking. They creep the van beside me very slowly, just behind me but still within my peripheral vision. I decide to stop and let them pass. I then pause and pretend to be looking at my phone and I see them stop driving immediately. This was a nope for me and I broke into a run, the van following me to a small vintage motel about one building away that I know has an open entrance courtyard and so as I approach it to turn quickly into the yard and run up to an archway entry for a unit, I stop at the first few steps, catching my breath. I then open my phone front camera to use as a sort of mirror to see what the van is doing. They had backed up to the entry of the motel and sat there for a few minutes. Then the one on the passenger side opened the door and started walking towards the motel, his phone flashlight on and I immediately pulled my own phone back, listening for his footsteps and readying myself to start banging on the motel door, hoping someone's inside. I wait in the silence for a long time, long enough for it to get dark. I finally look out again and both the man and van are now gone. I call an Uber to take me the last two blocks and never solve them again. 3. I have a friend over and we want to dab a form of smoking weed. For those who don't know, it's about 10pm My roommates don't like dabbing in the house because of the smell, so he and I go to his car parked out in front. We're in there having a good time when I notice a person walking down the block pulling on the car door handles. I notify him and we watch as that same person comes up to his car and then yanks on his back door. He honks his horn and they back up for a minute, then walk up to his driver window and knock on the window, making a motion to roll it down. Just as I'm about to tell him don't do it, he rolls down the window just a tad. The person is clean and normally clothed and they ask what day it is and then what time it is, to which my friend answers. They then just stand there and stare at us as he tries to usher them away, even offering them money. Without saying anything. They walk away down the block and once they reach the intersection between the construction site and woods, they roll their head back up to the sky and just start screaming at the top of their lungs as they then back away out of sight. I take this opportunity to dart back inside my house as my friend watches, making sure to close the patio door. A few hours later one of my roommates comes home very drunk and as we figured later, they had failed to make sure the patio door shut all the way Morning time comes and I wake up to an empty apartment. I open my phone and have a singular message from my roommate from three hours ago stating that when they left for work this morning there was a person they didn't know sleeping inside the patio area. They thought it was a drunk person who lived in the neighborhood and entered the wrong house by mistake and evidently didn't find enough of a reason to call me or wake me up. I immediately go to the entry of our apartment, pulling the door open very fast. To my surprise, the person who had been talking to us in the car the night before is laying casually across my staircase fiddling with something. I then scream hey. Very loudly and they immediately hop up and then run out my patio door. I run down the stairs after them and open the door. They're standing across the street just smiling at me and giggling. They then give me a little wave and run off. I close the door hard and go back up the steps to see what items they had left. Sitting on the steps was a few coins, some weird wire type objects, as well as a lighter and a pocket knife. Never saw them again. Unrelated to my stories, but shortly after I moved from that area 1. A teenage girl was abducted from that same corner where I saw the van. 2. After a car chase, police found a severed head in the freezer of a house right along my block as well. I've also had situations that were severe enough that I did need to call the police and they didn't help me. So that is not really a thought that goes through my head when dealing with these situations. And I've learned how to take care of myself or utilize community resources for other situations. All of these stories happened years ago and it's pretty wild to look back on as well as remember just how terrified I felt in these times. So yeah, these are my stories and I hope you all enjoyed them. This entire scenario happened a few years ago when I used to take walks alone occasionally at night which is something that I thought very little of since I lived in a heavily residential, wealthy area. In other words, on the trail I'd frequent, houses were always within sight. On one such night, shortly into my walk, I saw a figure walking a few hundred feet behind me, something I knew immediately was odd, considering it was around 10 at night at the time. At first I discounted this though, since it was a public trail and they could have very well been doing the exact same thing as me just going for a walk. I continued on for roughly 5, 10 minutes or so before looking behind me once more, only to find the same person still trailing me. Keep in mind, at this point, I'd gone through a few turns by now on the trail, meaning it was becoming more and more unlikely that this person just so happened to be going to the same location as me. I decided to take odd paths and directions, turning off into gravel and weirder, more roundabout side areas, and they still followed me. By the time I was reaching the apex of my journey, passing by the local park, they were maybe less than 60ft behind me, a distance they could have easily covered in seconds. It's then that I decided to call my family. I had researched for this. I knew what to do, and believe it or not, the call didn't go through. As it turns out, my phone was a recent gift and its service had been set up improperly, meaning that no matter how many times I frantically called at that moment, nothing would happen and a decision I called back to as one of my best. To this day, I acted as if the call had gone through and I was on the phone with my mom, miming out and talking inaudibly about my location and the person behind me beginning to briefly describe them. Even in the act, I wasn't able to really do so, as I could never get a proper view of their face, as if it was somehow shrouded in something. But I did my best with what I had. Sure enough, when I turned around again, they were nowhere to be seen. Not that they had turned off and walked into another direction, but that they weren't there to begin with. Weeks later, my mom told me that a police officer had come into our work and warned about abductions that had been happening in our area, specifically for child trafficking and organ trade. I count myself as very lucky, and whenever I leave the house now, I'm very aware only doing so during the day, all while taking a large knife with me. There was a point later on in that neighborhood that a car clearly followed me, turning around into a cul de sac where there was no logical reason for them to be. Except for me. But this was the most obvious example of an attempted kidnapping.

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[Guest 1]

Bartisian.

[Party Host]

It's a home cocktail maker that makes over 60 premium cocktails, plus a whole lot of seasonal favorites too. I just got it for 50 off, so how about a Cosmopolitan or a Mistletoe margarita?

[Guest 1]

I'm thirsty.

[Party Host]

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[Guest 1]

My strength and wow, it's beginning to feel more seasonal in here already.

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[Guest 1]

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[Storyteller 1]

Hey everyone. So I'm a guy from the UK. I live in a town in Wales, albeit not the little villages most people imagine. My town is a popular holiday destination along the coast of Wales. It started when I was 15 years old, so about eight years ago I was dating a girl from about two towns over. I would usually get the train to hers and back. However, this one night her family weren't supposed to be home and we were kind of being watched by her brother who was about 1920 and he was a pretty chill guy. The plan was to stay the night. We were up late playing on the Wii but her parents unexpectedly came home. I never got along with her mother and the whole thing got kind of heated and I was kicked out of the house and told that I couldn't stay over. It was about 2am and I didn't want to call my own parents and worry of waking them up. So I began the long trudge home. It was roughly about an hour and a quarter worth of walking, so I was expecting to be home by around half four. So I walked along the weird concrete bed just above the beach, not sure what it's called. And I stopped after about half an hour of walking as there's a public toilet seat which is kind of run down but also open 24 hours and I was desperate. I was expecting it to be empty or just have a homeless dude sleeping on it, but I was wrong. There was a guy using the urinal. This guy looked to be in his mid to late 50s, maybe a little on the overweight side, but not extremely. He had gray messyish hair, but other than that he looked pretty normal. He definitely didn't look homeless. I remember that he made a quick joke about something, but I don't remember what. I politely laughed, did my business and left after about 15 minutes of walking. The weather had gotten pretty bad, it started to rain heavily and the wind was really picking up. I seem to remember this was around November time, so it was pretty cold. Anyways, so I'm walking and a car drives by, beeps and then pulls over just in front of me. I assumed it was someone I knew, but I couldn't think of whom. Got to the car and the dude from the toilet was inside. He asked me where I was headed and I told him. He said that it was a long walk and that I couldn't be expected to walk all that way in this weather. And then he offered me a lift. In hindsight I probably should have refused, but the weather was bad and at the time he wasn't giving off any weird vibes. The drive took about 15 minutes, I think maybe even 20. The more I was in the car with him, the more I started to get the vibes that there was something off about this guy. He was telling me that his best friend was a 14 year old lad who stays over at his place a lot and that they drink together and if I ever wanted to join I was welcome to. He was asking me some really invasive questions as well. I don't fully remember what they were. I just remember that it's not the kind of questions that you want to ask to someone that you're just giving a simple lift home to. Anyways, we got to the street around the corner from my place and I asked him to just drop me off there. I told him that my house Wasn't accessible by the road and that I would just walk the rest of the way. He gave me his number and he told me to ring him when I got to my house safely as he wanted to make sure I got home okay. I asked him what his name was and he just said, Pete. I then said, um, Pete what? My phone wants a surname. He wouldn't tell me. He just kept saying, call me Pete. Anyway, I got into my house and texted him just to let him know that I was home safe. Probably a bad decision, but back then I was really full of bad decisions, to be honest. The next day came and I was expecting everything to just go back to normal. It didn't because I stupidly gave Pete my number when I texted him. I started to get texts from him every morning, basically just saying good morning to me and wishing me well. I replied to the first few and then just started ignoring them. But then he started trying to call me, like every single evening. I would ignore most of his calls, but he would often repeatedly ring until I answered. He was sending me these texts inviting me over to his house for some drinks. He kept telling me that he had gotten himself a pool table and he wanted me to come and play it with him. He was telling me a story of a friend who he was playing pool with the 14 year old that he mentioned previously. And then he accidentally let it slip that the guy called him John. I asked him about this and said I thought your name was Pete. To which he then replied, oh no.

[Intruder]

My friend's name is John.

[Storyteller 1]

To which I then replied back with, you just said your friend called you John and you told me that your friend was called Tom. To which he then told me, well.

[Intruder]

Oh well, some people call me John. It's like a nickname. But his name is John too.

[Storyteller 1]

He hesitated saying this and I kind of clicked that he was just telling me a whole bunch of lies. I kept refusing, but he just kept asking. After a while, my mom wanted to know who this dude who kept texting me and ringing my phone was. I told her and she called him herself from her own phone. She told him that if he carried on texting and calling me, she would be calling the police. I didn't get any more texts from him after that. But it didn't end there. I had a routine, you see, and he knew it. I always walked my dog at half four every afternoon and I also played with her about 40 minutes on the field at the end of my street, just near where he dropped me off. I started to notice his car pulling up there within five minutes of me getting there with my dog. He had tinted windows, but I would always notice the car lights were always left on and the engine was always running. Also, I recognized his car. I would occasionally notice the car door open in a large flash from that direction, as if someone was taking pictures. I had started changing the time I walked my dog, but he would eventually figure it out and start showing up either earlier or late to coincide with when I was walking her. This went on for months and I never mentioned it to anyone. But one day it just stopped. He stopped pulling up at that side of the field. I never saw his car anymore. No text messages or phone calls from him either. It all just stopped. I ended up getting a new phone after about a year and had that for another two years. I dug out my old phone when I was around 18, 19, after the aforementioned dog died. I had some old pictures and videos of her on that phone and I wanted to transfer them over to my PC so that I always had them. I turned on the phone, which had been turned off for several years now and still had the old SIM card in it. That's when I got my final message from Pete. It was an odd one, and it was about 14 months old. It said something along the lines of.

[Intruder]

Hi, I know we haven't spoken in a while, but I just thought you should know that over the new year I was diagnosed with an illness and I've recently been told that I don't have long left to live. You were a good friend to me in that short time we knew each other. I live at this address and I would really appreciate it if you could just come around just so I can have one last chat with you. I've got some beers in and if it gets too late, you can stay the night. Just drop me a phone call when you want to come around so that I can get everything ready for you. See you soon.

[Storyteller 1]

I have no idea if Pete or John or whoever was genuinely ill or just trying to lure me to his house. I've never been to the address he sent me. And I never responded to him or heard from him since. I didn't reply to him at all. And that was the last I ever heard from the guy. So, yeah, that's the story. Not tremendously exciting, but kind of had a big impact on me during those years. Hope you all enjoyed it. It can get lonely climbing Mount McKinley, so to entertain myself, I go to Chumbacasino.com@chumbacasino. I can play hundreds of online games casino style games for free like online slots, bingo, slingo and more. Plus I get a daily login bonus. It's just too bad that up here I don't have anyone to share my excitement with.

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