Southern Cannibal’s Scary Stories

Episode 623: 4 TRUE Intense Scary Stories
Date: October 24, 2025
Host: Southern Cannibal

Overview

This episode of Southern Cannibal’s Scary Stories presents four listener-submitted true accounts of intense and disturbing encounters. The stories range from near-fatal run-ins with masked robbers, unsettling trespassing incidents, a haunting police case involving a missing person, and the chilling experience of being stalked and threatened in an apartment complex. Each narrative is told in a tense, descriptive style that plays deeply into the fears of vulnerability, intrusion, and survival.

Story 1: "The Beauty Salon Hostage"

[00:04 – ~08:10]

• Setting: Autumn 2012, a beauty salon in Glasgow, Scotland.
• Main Characters: Neelam and Aleda (both beauticians, early 20s, of South Asian Pakistani ancestry), three masked intruders.
• Incident:
  • As Neelam and Aleda closed the salon, three large men in ski masks stormed in with bulging blue shopping bags.
  • They trapped the women by lowering the front shutter, threatened them with hammers and duct tape, and forcefully tied and gagged both in the salon’s back room.
  • Neelam, suffering a cold, struggled with the duct tape over her mouth, causing distress and partial suffocation.
  • The men aggressively demanded the female salon owner, becoming more frantic when told she wasn’t there.
  • After several minutes, the intruders smashed up the salon and cash register but surprisingly stole nothing before leaving.
  • The women managed to free themselves with scissors, called the police, and were later questioned, unable to identify the men due to their ski masks.
• Aftermath:
  • Both survivors quit the salon, found new jobs, and moved forward, forever impacted by the trauma.
  • They remained unsettled about the owner’s possible involvement, but were grateful the owner was absent during the attack.

Notable Moment/Quote:

"Although both of the girls were scared, they thought the men seemed fairly amateurish and thought they would just leave... Well, things took a much sinister turn, however, when suddenly the three men pulled out hammers and silver duct tape."
— Anonymous submitter [00:52]

Story 2: "Stranger Outside the Window"

[08:12 – ~11:57]

• Setting: South side of a crime-prone city, residential neighborhood.
• Main Characters: The narrator (female high schooler), her mother, her brother.
• Incident:
  • With her father abroad and brother out for the evening, the narrator and her mom were home alone.
  • The mother notices a man talking to himself and peering through their driveway near her window; the man soon bikes away.
  • He returns minutes later, seen loitering and apparently surveilling her brother's expensive truck.
  • The brother comes home briefly, gives a quick pistol tutorial, and leaves again, leaving the two females alone with increased anxiety.
  • The stranger does not return, but the fear of what might have happened lingers.

Notable Moment/Quote:

"My brother just decides to give me a quick lesson on how to use a pistol in case I need to use it. Then he leaves again... Now, luckily, the guy didn't come back after that and nothing happened for the rest of the night."
— Anonymous submitter [11:10]

Story 3: "The Voice in the Dark – A Cop’s Haunting Case"

[11:59 – ~22:11]

• Setting: Small unnamed town, police night shift during a thunderstorm.
• Main Characters: Narrator (rookie officer, “Nighthawk”), partner Chris, dispatcher Claire, unknown homeowner, the victim.
• Incident:
  • During a blackout, the rookie officer gets dispatched to a distress call: a male voice, disguised to sound like a child, claims he’s held captive.
  • Responding with backup, the officers find a dilapidated, unlit house whose owner claims the call was a mistake.
  • Gaining a quick warrant, the officers search inside, noting filthy, unsettling conditions—especially the presence of many children’s toys and a life-size doll in a rocking chair.
  • In the basement, the cop discovers a missing man held captive for two years. The homeowner is arrested on the spot; the victim is hospitalized.
• Psychological Impact & Unanswered Questions:
  • The harrowing twist: the victim made the emergency call mimicking a child’s voice, likely after being forced to speak that way for years.
  • The officer reflects on what else the victim was forced to do and the unknown depths of the trauma, admitting these are the questions “that keep me up at night.”

Notable Moment/Quote:

"Why was he speaking like a child? The only explanation that really makes sense is that this man was forced to speak in that young tone of a voice for so long that even when he called the station, that's the only way it could communicate. And if he was forced to do that, what else inside that house was he forced to do? These are the questions that keep me up at night."
— Anonymous police officer [21:45]

Story 4: "Stalked in My Own Building"

[23:09 – ~43:00]

• Setting: Modern apartment complex with two buildings; urban environment.
• Main Characters: The narrator (female resident), the male stalker (“Tom”), property manager, supportive friend and her husband, the police.
• Incident:
  • Late at night, the narrator fetches her DoorDash order and encounters a suspicious man posing as the delivery person.
  • She soon realizes “Tom” is a resident with a history of harassing women and notices he is following her, deliberately attempting to learn which apartment she lives in.
  • A tense chase takes place through hallways, elevators, stairwells, and the garage, culminating with Tom confronting the narrator; she manages to escape, terrified.
  • Management and police are notified; the man has a documented history of stalking and evading protection orders, but authorities are unable to take meaningful action because he did not issue explicit threats, and Fair Housing Act protections apply due to his mental health status.
  • The narrative’s anxiety ratchets up as she describes the subsequent days—staying with friends for safety, learning of Tom’s repeated offenses, and the helplessness of both the management and the police to protect her or remove the threat.

Notable Moments/Quotes:

"I'll never forget the moment I looked into the garage and saw his body in the door frame."
— Anonymous submitter [28:55]

"The property manager said ... he's harassed women in the complex before, but never followed them at night. He usually finds a woman by herself and kind of hones in on them. ... I was the fourth or fifth female that he has harassed."
— Anonymous submitter [32:04]

"He's also been arrested before for harassing a woman, has been sent to the hospital before for his mental health issues. ... I just couldn't believe it. This man was able to freely move about common spaces in our complex and management has never mentioned anything to residents nor regarded our safety."
— Anonymous submitter [36:50]

Episode Highlights

• Authenticity and Tension: Each story is detailed and immersive, bolstered by the narrator’s personal tone and the specificity of ordinary settings turned dangerous.
• Critical Themes: Vulnerability, the complexity (and failures) of systems meant to protect, and the lingering effects of trauma.
• Memorable Quotes: The officer’s reflection on the limits of closure and the enduring terror of not knowing the full scope of trauma in Story 3; the chilling realization of being targeted and pursued in Story 4.

Timestamps for Key Segments

• Salon Hostage Story: 00:04 – ~08:10
• Stranger at the Window: 08:12 – ~11:57
• Rookie Cop Case: 11:59 – 22:11
• Apartment Stalker: 23:09 – ~43:00

Final Thoughts

The episode delivers a nightmarish sense of “what if,” skillfully narrated to evoke empathy and dread. For listeners, these stories are a stark reminder to trust your instincts and prioritize safety—but also a sobering look at how fragile that safety can be.

(Note: Ads and non-content sections were omitted. Some minor formatting edits were made for structure and clarity.)