1 Hour of Rainy Alone at Night Horror Stories | Vol. 2 (Compilation)

Last winter, I went on a trip to see a few of my friends from college. The drive was 18 hours, so I did it in two 9-ish hour sections, staying at an Airbnb on the way there. It was the same thing on the way back, but I booked a different Airbnb just for fun. I guess I thought it would be nice to see some different areas and whatnot. Anyway, a bit of heavy snow caused some delays, and I didn't get to the town until 9:00 p.m. It was a very small area, which I was

already aware of because there were pretty much no big towns or cities at the halfway point of the 18-hour drive. The last Airbnb was in a small town as well, but this one was noticeably much smaller. A few stores bordered the road, but all the houses were either on farms or just really far apart. When I got to my Airbnb, it was no different—being pretty far from other houses. However, the outside was somewhat modernized. It clearly had some cabin-style features, but it almost looked out of place compared to all the other houses I could see.

I parked on the gravel driveway and went up to the door, putting in the code and going inside the house. I'd seen the pictures of the inside online, and it looked about the same. I went around and checked out all the rooms, then put my things in the bedroom and went out to the couch. As soon as I sat down and picked up the remote, I heard a tapping noise from right behind me. I quickly turned my head, seeing a woman outside the window tapping on the glass. Her hair was unkempt and long, and she

had a crazy sort of look in her eyes. Once she got my attention, though, she pointed toward the front door and walked away from the window. I got up, still with my heart racing from the unexpectedness of it, and made my way to the door. Knowing it was just some old lady, I didn't exactly feel scared, but I was definitely not feeling safe either. I cracked the door just enough to talk to her. She smiled and said she needed help. I waited for a second for her to explain, but after a moment, I asked what

she needed help with. She looked behind her, saying she lost something in the road just outside the house. I looked out, not being able to see anything past the lowly lights of the Airbnb. "I'm not really sure I can help with that," I said. Her smile left her face, and then she repeated herself—like the whole thing about her losing something on the road—repeating it almost word for word. "Yeah, I know. I don't think I can help. Sorry," I said again, closing the door. I waited for a minute until I could hear her leave, then I

went back to the couch. I wasn't sure if she was just some crazy lady or if there was something else going on, but it was just a very strange way to be introduced to the town. I relaxed and turned on the TV, watching some shows until 11:00 when I got in bed. I think I still felt a bit uncomfortable because I found it difficult to fall asleep. All I remember is laying in bed, restless for a whole hour, then abruptly waking up sometime in the middle of the night. There was a sound coming from the

front of the house. It was quiet, but with the rest of the house being silent, it stood out. My mind immediately went to the lady from earlier as I got up from the bed and nervously walked down the hallway and looked at where I was hearing it—from the front door. I rushed over to stop them, but the door opened just as I got my body against it. I pressed all my weight into the door as whoever was on the other side seemed to do the same. I'm a pretty big guy, so whoever it was out

there had to be big too, because for a moment, it felt like they might actually overpower me and get the door open. But they gave up after a few seconds of pushing and sprinted down the driveway. I locked the door and ran to the window, trying to get a view of who they were, but they were already past the light. I thought through my options for a second, then ran to grab my things from the bedroom and went out to my car, driving away. I didn't want to be at that house any longer, and I

knew police in a small town like that wouldn't be all that helpful. I don't know who was behind that door, but I'm sure they had to have been with the woman from earlier that night. If I had gone out to help her, or if I had woken up even a second later, I don't think I would have been seen again after that night. Before I get into this next story, I want to talk about an important sponsor for today's video. Aura is an advanced online digital security service, allowing you to scan and remove your personal

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personal data has been compromised, remove your data from multiple prominent platforms, and securely monitor your personal identity. I highly recommend using this free trial to see if your data has been stolen and to keep your identity secure. Thanks again to Aura for sponsoring this video and keeping our personal data secure. Way back in 2013, I was 22 years old and wanted to sell an old computer I had. It wasn't good enough to take into a shop or anything; it was kind of a piece of junk that I thought someone else could find use of. At

the time, Craigslist was the only place I really knew of that you could post and sell things on, and honestly, I'd never heard any bad things happening from it. It seemed like an easy-access site that people nearby could get discounts from. I trusted the area I lived in as well, so I really had no second thoughts when I listed the PC on the site. It only took a day before I received an email from someone willing to pay me that listed price, assuming it worked as I said it did. I assured him he could test

it out when he picked it up, and we set to do the exchange the following morning. He said his name was Cameron and that he'd send me an email when he was on his way over. The next day, I got up early and waited until 11:00 a.m. when he was supposed to show up. I was expecting his email to say he was coming, but he never sent anything. At 11:15, with still no email or signs of him coming, I decided to just open up the blinds and watch TV while keeping an eye outside in case

he did show up. There was nothing until about 11:45. From the corner of my eye, I saw a car slowly coming down the road and up to the front of my house. They stopped right on the curb, keeping the car running. Thinking it was them, I paused the TV and waited, but several minutes passed, and the car didn't move or turn off. Then they suddenly just turned back onto the road and drove away. I got up and went to the window, looking at the road and just really not understanding what that was. I didn't know

if it was Cameron or just some random person who coincidentally stopped there for some reason. I closed the blinds and sent an email to Cameron asking if he was coming, but there was never any response. After an hour, I was done waiting and just went on with my day, forgetting about the whole thing. I had lunch and eventually dinner, then got in bed early around 9:00 p.m. because I had to work the next day. I fell asleep quickly but woke up sometime after. I looked at the clock; it was only 11:00. It had barely been

2 hours. I closed my eyes again and tried to get back to sleep, but a very faint thump forced my eyes open again. I stayed laying there quietly, waiting to hear another, so I could figure out what it was. Only a moment later, it came again. It was from somewhere downstairs, but it wasn't something I'd heard before. I had no idea what it could be. Worried there may be a problem with the house, I got up and went into the hallway, then over to the stairs, hearing it several more times as I made my way

downstairs. It also started to get louder, being much, much more than just a quiet thump. I slowed down, stepping quietly through the kitchen, and turned the corner into the back hall. As I stared down the dim hallway, another thud rang through the house from directly at the end. When my eyes adjusted, I could see the faint outline of a figure moving outside the window. My heart stopped for a second, then another heavy thud shook the window, causing me to jump and step back. The figure stood still and faced the window. Then the shadow slowly became

more clear as they leaned their face close, pressing against the glass as I saw their eyes lock on me. That moment of horror felt to have lasted for minutes, but I know it was only a second or two before they quickly backed up and sprinted away. I ran and called the police, but they had obviously gotten away by then. Despite it seeming like an easy case of it being the man from Craigslist, Cameron, it wasn't so simple. There really was no evidence of it being him other than it happening on the same day I was

supposed to meet him. I don't know what they wanted either, but the bolt holding the window down had divots on the outside, as if they were trying to break it out of the window seal. I never found out anything else, but I also never took to using Craigslist again. I'm 26 years old, and this year I settled on a house. I'd been living with my roommates for the past almost 8 years, and seclusion is something I value, so finally buying a home for myself was... A huge achievement! It was in a neighboring town, about 2

hours out from where I used to live. This town was much smaller in scale and had way fewer buildings. That’s not to say every house was on a farm or anything, but the neighborhoods were definitely not full of close together rows of houses. They were spread out, separated by fields of trees and grass. The home I bought was no exception, being modest and on the less expensive side of the housing market. It was out in a forest a few miles away from the Market Center in the town. On the day I moved in, I still

hadn't met anyone in the area—not the neighbors or the townspeople—and with the house being so far out, with trees blocking the surrounding views, it really felt like I was moving out into the middle of nowhere, completely alone. Saying it like that makes it sound more eerie than it really felt, but it wasn't all that comforting of a thought either. I had a rental van for the day, so I got to work right away unloading my things into the house to be as quick as possible. I tried to put pretty much everything right in the living

room rather than sorting it as I went. This took a few hours, and the sun was coming down just as I was finishing up. I set down a few boxes in the house and started walking out to the driveway for the last couple of boxes but was caught off guard by a man standing on my porch, almost blocking the whole front door. He startled me, making me jump a bit before showing slight embarrassment and asking what he was here for. The man, looking about 50 or so, smiled and introduced himself as my new neighbor. I

said it was nice to meet him and made a short smile, but couldn't really help but think about how I never saw him walking up the driveway to my house. In fact, I had no idea where he came from, given it was just forest around my house. The man stayed there, just kind of looking at me for a second, then turned and walked off my porch. I stood and just soaked in the strangeness of the encounter. After a moment, though, I stepped back outside and quickly got the rest of the boxes into the house. I

checked out the windows to make sure the man was gone, and I didn't see him anywhere. So after a minute, I went out and got in the van, driving it down the long dirt driveway. It had only been a few minutes since the man had left, yet I didn't see him walking as I drove down to the main road. There were no other paths that I was aware of, so this made me a bit more uneasy. Anyway, I returned the van and got a local taxi back home, then started unpacking. I wasn't working fast because

I was already tired, and it was late, but I wanted to get some of the furniture put together before calling it a night. I grabbed the pieces to my bed frame and lugged them into my bedroom, beginning to piece it together before a sudden knock interrupted me. I stopped and listened, kind of shaken by it. I got up and quietly walked up to the front door. I kept the door shut and locked but looked out the peephole and saw the same man from during the day. But this time, something was off about him—more so than

before. His body was shaky, with his head moving around in an uncanny way, but his eyes were fixed on the doorknob. He was staring at it intensely, standing close to the door as if waiting eagerly for me to open it. “Hey, it’s your neighbor! Can you open the door?” he yelled and then knocked again. I still remained on the other side, looking through the peephole. His face began to show frustration and anger, and he banged on the door one more time. He then turned and faced the pitch-black forest, looking out into the darkness. He held

his hand up and did some sort of waving motion, followed by him running out into the forest in the direction he waved at. Terrified, I immediately called the police, but it was too late for them to be found and questioned. After that night, though, I never saw the man again. Even to this day, I have met my neighbors, and of course, none of them were that man, and nobody in town seems to recognize him from my descriptions. I don’t know who the man was signaling to in the forest or even how many people could have

been out there waiting for the man to gain my trust and get me to open the door. What would have happened afterwards, I believe, is best left unthought of. Not more than a week or two ago, I hiked out on a long trail in the dense woods behind the town I lived in. I lived in a really close-knit town with just under a thousand people, so we were pretty far out from any big populated cities. The woods on the outskirts were very flat—no mountains or hills—but had a few ponds and some small rivers running through

the middle. I was heading to one of these rivers. I'd been there before a few times, though I'd never had the chance to camp there until this day. As I could recall from the previous times, I knew it was about a 3-hour walk almost perfectly north. As I walked between the trees, it was very quiet aside from birds and other animals rustling the leaves around me. There were no people or hikers, and I didn't plan. to see anyone because this was not even a trail; it was just open woods. But as I was just 45

minutes out from the river, I ran into someone. We were both walking toward each other, and it seemed like neither of us had noticed the other until we were just a few feet away, separated by only a couple of trees. I know I had a confused and almost nervous look, finding it really unusual to run into someone off-trail in the middle of these woods, but the man had the same look. I was about to break the silence and say hello, but after a second, his face shifted into a slight nervous smile, and he turned to

walk off to the side. I followed his lead and kept on walking as well, but I looked back once I got a little further away and saw the man was no longer walking, but almost running away, not saying a word. Running into each other gave me a somewhat unsettled feeling, but seeing him run off like that only made it even stranger. It was like the man did not want to be seen, or he didn't care about the almost impossible chance that we had run into each other. Whatever the case, I kept minding my own business

and made my way to the river. This was no campsite or anything, so I just plopped my bag and tent down on the flattest area I could find. Then I got a fire going since the sun was just about to set. I tossed in a bunch of random sticks and twigs that were around and made sure it would burn for a couple of hours at least. I was hoping to stay up and wait until the stars came out so I could do some stargazing away from town. I can often get a good view of the

Milky Way, which is a sight I never want to miss out on. Hours passed while I was sitting and waiting until a distinct sound came through the quiet woods behind me: footsteps, slow and careful ones. I turned and looked, not seeing much in the dark as I gazed around, though the footsteps stopped, telling me that while I may not see them, they can see me. I reached down for my bag and picked up a heavy-duty flashlight, shining it at the trees. I could see decently far now, but as I moved it back and forth, I

didn't see anyone. I felt my heart rate increasing a bit as the unsettling feeling came over me again. "Anyone out there?" I tried again. "Hello?" Not even the sound of another footstep. After a moment of contemplation, I started to walk toward where I'd heard the sound from. I thought maybe there was a chance I was mistaken, but I needed to be sure. I carefully stepped through the woods, keeping the flashlight steadily pointing ahead until I got to where I thought the sound was from. I moved the light to my left, looking behind each tree until

the light suddenly revealed a large man. It was the one I'd run into only a few hours ago. He was no more than 20 feet away, but even with the light on him, he stood still. In an act of quick thinking, I tried to not react and continued to move my flashlight across the woods, hoping he would think that I somehow didn't see him. Then I began walking back to the tent, trying to act as unbothered as possible. I picked up my bag and looked around once more before quickly leaving my tent and campfire behind

and walking into the woods along the riverside. Once I felt I'd made enough distance, I sprinted as far as I could until I was, without a doubt, away from that man. I found a spot to rest at and sat there awake until sunrise. I don't think I was followed, as I was able to make it out without ever hearing or seeing that man again. I'm not sure why he was out there or why he had shown up and hid by my campsite, but I never went back to retrieve my tent in fear that I might

find out. A couple of years ago, I moved out of my dorm room and into an apartment. Of the few pieces of furniture that we had in the dorm, none of it was mine, so I was basically in need of everything. I had more money than I did before and was planning to save for a few more months before making a bunch of purchases on things for the apartment. But there were still a few things that I did need right away. One of these was a bed frame, but they were all really expensive, and after

buying a new mattress, I was really not trying to drop a whole stack of cash on a frame. I pulled up a few used furniture sites but landed on Craigslist, as it had the most postings. A lot of them were really cheap or even free, but they all looked horrible. Then I came across one that wasn't too bad. It was just a plain old wooden bed frame that didn't look too beat up. I sent a quick email asking if it was still available, then went on with my search. A minute later, I got a reply.

The man said it was still available for $35. That was a perfect deal for me, so I quickly accepted his offer, and we set up a time to meet later that day at 6. While I waited, I unboxed some things and moved a bunch of stuff around in the bedroom to make some space for the frame, and then at 5:30, the man emailed me his address. It was 20 minutes away in an area... That I hadn't been to yet, though I wasn't exactly familiar with anywhere too well since I had just moved, I grabbed some

cash and headed out. As I drove, I looked around frequently to try to get myself familiar with what was around, but about halfway there, everything sort of dropped off. The town I was in very quickly ended, and the area became a lot less populated with buildings and houses. It was not what I expected. As I got to the neighborhood his house was in, I felt a little bit better seeing that the houses weren't too far apart, and it did look mostly normal; however, they were definitely not nice-looking houses. I pulled up to the address and

parked in the driveway. The lights were on, and the front door was left open. I got out and walked up, ringing the doorbell. The man came a moment later. He was tall and heavy, wearing a hat and jacket. As he invited me inside, he didn't really look strange in any way, but something about him made me feel strange. It was just the way he talked, I guess, kind of like we'd been buddies for years. I followed him upstairs and down the hallway that led to a small spare bedroom. We stepped into the room, and I

was immediately confused. The room looked occupied, with a dresser, nightstands, and even clothes laying around. Even the bed frame had a mattress on it with sheets and blankets. I clarified with him that I was only wanting to buy the bed frame and not the mattress or anything else, and he said, "Of course." I looked back over at the bed frame, seeing it looked like it was fine enough, so I said I'd buy it. He smiled and offered to help me drag it out to my truck, but said he'd want a drink before we got to

it. The man walked back into the hallway and came back surprisingly fast with two glasses of beer that he must have been keeping in the next room over. He held one out to me, but I politely declined. He looked confused and said it would be fun, acting like we might as well hang out since we're here. I told him I was really busy tonight and really just wanted to buy the bed frame and head out, but he was getting really pushy. His smile became noticeably less genuine as he urged me to have a drink with

him. I quickly stepped past him and into the hallway just to not be cornered in the small room, and I told him I was just going to leave. I turned to walk out, and he immediately changed his attitude to being overly nice, apologizing and asking if I wanted to take the bed frame for free. I ignored him, walking faster down the stairs as I heard the man coming after me down the hallway. I was able to leave before he ever caught up and only saw him standing at the front door as I pulled away. Maybe

he was just some lonely guy living out there that wanted a buddy to hang out with, but it was all just a little too strange. I mean, the bed and room were clearly in use by someone. When I got home that night, I checked the posting again, but it was gone. Gone from my memory, though I knew the frame was shown by itself with no mattress or anything. And come to think of it, it's even stranger that it wasn't like that when I got there, considering his intent was to sell it. But whatever that man

was up to, I didn't like it. I work at a gas station in the center of my town. My shifts aren't always the same, but I find myself on overnights and early mornings most of the time. I'd been there for a whole year at this point, and honestly, I didn't have many negative things to say about it. It was just a normal mid-paying job that only required me to stand in one spot for eight hours and talk to the occasional customers. On this day, I was working an overnight shift, the typical 10 to 6. Although

it's usually not too busy overnight on the weekdays, it's worth mentioning that it was raining a decent amount this night, so I was expecting it to be a pretty quiet night. The first couple of hours, I sat in a chair behind the register and just waited for anyone to come in. I got a few people that paid for gas with cash, but by 12:30 or 1:00ish, it was pretty much dead—no customers coming inside and barely anyone even getting gas outside. Now, with absolutely no customers, I went around the counter and started fixing up the shelves

a bit. They weren't too bad, but it was just a way to keep myself busy. As I was doing this, I had my back facing the windows, but I saw headlights glare through the store as someone pulled into the pumping stations. I didn't look because there was nothing interesting about it—just some guy pulling in to get gas. I kept on with tidying up the shelves for maybe ten or so minutes before I unconsciously glanced out the window. The car was still there by one of the pumps, with a man standing right next to it. As

soon as I looked, the man shifted away, making it obvious that he was looking at me. After seeing that, I felt really weirded out, especially since he'd been there supposedly pumping gas for a whole ten minutes. I went back to the counter, then checked out the window again thirty seconds later, seeing the man getting in his car. The headlights flashed a few times, like he was trying and failing... To turn it on, but he eventually got it running and drove away in a hurry. I stood there and just looked out the window for a minute,

and something just really didn't seem right. I got an idea and pulled up the recent transactions for the pump he was at. The last time it was used was hours ago; he was there for 10 minutes with no reason at all other than watching me through the windows. I stayed behind the counter for a while, trying to just wait out the rest of my shift. A few more cars came and went, and then it got really quiet again for a while. Around 3:00 a.m., I heard something outside. The rain was heavy, but a rhythmic shuffling

noise on the ground was barely audible through it—footsteps right along the side of the building, moving toward the back. I tried to look out the window, but there was no good view. I did notice that no cars were in the parking lot or by the pumps, though. I quickly left the counter and went to the back door, which was a heavy metal door that had no windows or anything on it. I pressed my ear against it and listened as the footsteps got louder and louder until they were right on the other side of the door.

My eyes moved to the handle, waiting in the silence before the handle turned slowly and slightly but got caught by the lock. It went quiet again; almost a whole minute passed. Then a man's voice grunted in frustration as a sudden sharp sound slid across the other side of the door. Footsteps followed soon after, leaving and going back to the side of the gas station. I ran back to the front, waiting to see them walking away but didn't get any sight of them. Acting quickly, I picked up the store phone and dialed 911, hoping they could

catch him before he got too far. I didn't know what was really happening, but someone trying to get in through the back door had to have intended something bad. When the cops arrived, they didn't find the man, but what they did find was a car on the side of the road less than a quarter mile away—the same car I'd seen earlier with the man who was watching me. It had run out of gas and had mismatching license plates. It turned out to be some guy missing from two states over. The other thing they found was

a long scrape across the back door made by a sharp metal object, likely a knife. Knowing all these details, I think I actually got extremely lucky, as the man was probably on the run already and could have been planning anything. I was working late at the office one night. We have a big two-story building in a business complex, and sometimes if we have to catch up on work, we kind of have to stay late. I had taken two sick days the week before, so I really had to get my project done and didn't have much

time left to do it. I planned to stay a few hours this night and a few hours the next night to get caught up, leaving anywhere between 1:00 and 2:00 a.m. Often, others would be there late as well, but this night it was just me. I was working at my desk, which was in the middle of a whole room full of desks. As I typed away on my laptop, though, I started to get a little drowsy, and after fighting it for a bit, I got up to make some coffee in the break room. I started

the machine and leaned against the table, barely keeping my eyes open as it slowly poured into the mug. But a sudden thud shook me awake. It sounded like it was downstairs, but it was really loud, resonating through the whole building. Nothing followed the sound, though; it was just the one thud. I walked over to the doorway and looked out at the stairs, debating whether or not to see what it was. Honestly, I was so tired I thought it had to just be something falling in one of the rooms downstairs, and I chose not to investigate.

I grabbed my mug and went back to my desk, continuing to work. I sat there for an hour nonstop working, but the coffee really wasn't fixing my sleepiness problem. I kept working, though, trying to power through it, but I was only prolonging the inevitable. At some point, I dozed off at my desk. When my eyes opened, I remember being immediately irritated and somewhat dizzy, like I'd been annoyingly woken up from a deep sleep. As I regained my senses, though, I noticed a sound coming from somewhere in the building. It was a beep sounding every four

to five seconds, but was very faint. I looked at my laptop, seeing it was nearly 2:00 a.m. I decided it wasn't worth trying to work anymore, so I packed up my things and brought them with me as I left the room to both check on the beeping and to leave afterwards. As I got to the stairwell, though, the beeping started to make me nervous. I'd never heard it before, and there was something eerie about it. Maybe I was too tired before to fully comprehend it. I walked down the staircase, and now with the beeping much

louder, I peered into the long main hallway. At the far end, there was a metal rod laying on the ground right in front of the open entrance door. I felt blood rush from my face, knowing it should be locked up, and realizing the beeping was from the building security system. With nothing but instinct to go off of, I ran down to the opposite end of the hallway and out. The back door was getting in my car to call for help, although I was out of the building. What I learned next was far more terrifying: police

pulled in and searched around, not finding anyone or anything. And that's when we checked the security cameras. At 11:00 p.m., a man could be seen walking up and breaking the door open with a single hit from some kind of tool, creating the bang sound that I heard while getting coffee. He then quietly moved around the first floor and up to the second, where he came into the office, housed in, and stood quietly only a few feet behind me while I was working at my desk. He then went back downstairs, coming up again while I was

sleeping and walking around the whole office, even going right up to me and searching around my desk. It's not clear if he stole anything, as there weren't cameras in every room, but there didn't seem to be any obvious answer as to what he was doing there. After seeing the security tapes, though, I've never stayed alone at that office again. It was a Friday night back in 2018. I was working at home on a paper I needed to finish for work and was trying to get it done so I could enjoy my weekend without having to

worry about it. It was probably somewhere around 10:00 at this point, but I'd been working in my office for a good three hours. This was after a full day already, too, so I was getting pretty exhausted. I kept finding myself getting distracted or losing focus, so I paused what I was doing and stood up to stretch my legs and try to wake myself up. I paced around the room a bit, but as I passed by the wall opposite of my desk, I noticed something move in the window. I stopped and did a double take, looking

out the window again. I was on the second story of my house, but the window has a view of the front portion of the property by the garage and porch. At first, I didn't see anything and thought my mind was playing tricks on me, but then I saw a bit of movement again. It was a shadow hovering over the sidewalk leading up to the porch. Someone was standing outside the front door, or at least that's what it looked like from the shadow. After looking out the window for a couple of minutes and seeing the shadow

barely move, I left my office and went downstairs. I leaned on the front door and looked out the peephole. There was a man looking about 40 years old and bald, with a scruffy gray beard. I watched for a moment; he never knocked or rang the doorbell or made any noise at all. He just stood there. What started freaking me out more was that I didn't know how long he'd been there for since I was working and never noticed him until just a couple of minutes ago. Wanting some answers to why the man was here, I

opened the door. Immediately, I was taken aback because the man didn't even flinch; his face stayed the same, cold and lacking emotion. "What are you doing here?" I said in a stern tone. The man continued to look at me but didn't answer. Then his eyes moved past me and looked down the hallway in my home. I moved the door further in toward my body to hide the view. "I don't know why you're here, but you need to leave," I said, closing the door firmly. His strange behavior was both creepy and aggravating; him ignoring me and

just standing there made me really frustrated. But then I heard his footsteps begin walking off the porch and away from the house. I sighed in relief and checked to be sure he'd gone away, then went back up to my office, trying to forget about the man and focus back on my work. I continued where I left off, but about five minutes later, just as I was beginning to really start working, a sudden knock echoed through the house. It was from the front door, but the knocks were loud, like someone banging on the door with their

whole fist. Irritated, I got up and quickly ran down to the front door, swinging it open aggressively with the intent to yell at the man. But when I saw him, I quickly changed my mind. Something about the look in his eyes and the way he was standing instantly shifted my anger into fear. I looked down at his hands, seeing him holding something to his side like he was trying to conceal it from me. All I could make out was the top of a small handle resembling that of a knife. I looked back up at him

only to see his whole body jolt toward me. I jumped back and slammed the door shut, then fought to lock it as the man was trying to turn the handle from the other side. Once I got the handle and the bolt lock latched, the man started banging on the door again for several seconds before running away. I stood there with barely any breath in me, feeling my adrenaline still surging through my body. Shakily, I went to the office and called 911. The man was never seen after that, and no real answers to what happened that

night were ever found. I was out camping in Colorado a few years ago during fall. This camping trip was an impulse decision, as I just felt like going out for the night and spending it in the calming nature. I had walked down a two-hour trail that led to the spot I set up at. It wasn't a big campground like all the other places; this was a small opening. At the end of a dirt path that I'd found a couple of years back, and nobody else ever seemed to come here, the forest around the opening was

really nice too. Over the years, I've gotten used to navigating it without getting lost. On this day, just an hour or so before sunset, I set out on a short walk around the area. Going for walks around this time is always the best, being that the woods are calm and the breeze starts to set in. I walked out and around for maybe 20 minutes before I saw something ahead: a man walking in the woods, just like me. He was crossing in front of me, about 60 yards out, so pretty far, and he didn't look like

he noticed I was there. But what was odd was the way he was walking. He was motioning his hands around and nodding his head, and although I couldn't hear him, I could see his mouth moving like he was talking. I waited to see if maybe someone was following behind him, but no, it was just him talking to himself. Maybe it wasn't something to get overly creeped out about, but I'd never seen anyone out here before, and the man didn't exactly look normal. After a minute, though, he was gone. I turned around and went back to

my tent, not really feeling comfortable being out in the woods with that guy wandering around. I waited a half hour, then got a campfire going as the sun was now set. I had a folded chair I was sitting on, and I mostly just thought to myself for the next hour—not about anything particular, but more in a way to clear my mind. Then, about two hours past sunset, I heard something—something in the distance. I moved away from the crackling fire and toward the trees so I could hear better. It was someone talking or mumbling far out

in the woods. Even stranger, though, I didn't see a flashlight or any source of light; he was walking out there in the pitch black. My stomach dropped, knowing it was extremely unlikely that the man from earlier could have just stumbled upon my campsite by accident. I stayed and listened, hoping that by some chance he didn't know I was here and was just passing by. Thirty seconds later, the voice faded out. I wasn't fully convinced this was all just chance, though. I covered most of the fire, leaving only a small flame burning so it wouldn't create

too much light, then I waited and listened. The next hour was unnerving, to say the least. I didn't hear or see anything, but it was the anticipation that kept me feeling uneasy. And then, at what had to be 11:00 p.m. by now, footsteps came rushing from directly in front of my campfire. I shot up from my chair and unholstered my pistol as a man I recognized as the one from earlier ran up to the other side of the fire and stopped just 10 feet from me. He wasn't talking anymore, but instead had a grin—not an

over-the-top smile, but just a slight, friendly grin. As I aimed at him, he said nothing and did nothing. He just looked at me. "Walk away right now," I said under my breath, trying to be as intimidating as possible. He looked me in the eyes, then down at my gun, and then back at me. His grin went away, and there was a moment where it felt like he was just about to do something, but then he smiled again and walked off into the woods. I didn't waste any time packing things up with one hand as I

kept my pistol out, then left in the opposite direction from where he went. The whole way back, I was so paranoid that I kept thinking I was hearing the man's voice talking to himself again. What he was doing out there and what he was trying to do to me is anyone's best guess. Had I not been prepared, though, I don't think I would have been able to leave those woods. Two years ago, I lived with my younger brother on the East Coast. For the most part, though, we didn't really go out much. I mean, we'd

hang out with friends a lot and get food or whatever, but we never really went out and did anything interesting. I started to look up things to do, and one of the most common suggestions was camping because we were right along the Appalachians. I told my brother, but he didn't seem very interested. A couple of days later, I went out and bought a few things, like a small tent and some safety tools, then packed up one of my old backpacks and drove out to a nearby trail. Yes, I was really inexperienced, and going camping alone

was not a good idea, but I'd only planned to be out for one night, so I figured even if there was a problem, it wouldn't be so bad. After an hour of driving, I got to the trail. No other cars were parked, and I didn't see any other people. I got out, put on my backpack, and walked to the trailhead. It was thin and not a really well-made path, but it was good enough. I didn't think it was a popular trail; I just found it by scrolling through a huge list and choosing one that wasn't

too long. As I hiked down, though, it became more and more clear how little-used this trail was. Bushes were overgrown and blocking the way, and even in some portions, the grass had grown in and made it really hard to tell what was the trail and what wasn't. But after an hour, I made it to the end. After seeing the trail, it was... About what I'd expected the camping ground to be, it was small and mostly overgrown. However, there was something I noticed right away that caught my attention: a pile of logs on the other side

of the camping ground. I walked up to it and saw that flakes of charred wood were blowing off in the wind, so it had to have been used recently—maybe even the night before. I looked around again, not seeing any tents or signs of someone being here. Unsure about it, I went to the other end and put my things down, then got to work on the tent. It wasn't that late yet, so I took my time to make sure the tent was well made. Once I was done, I took a breather, sitting down and chilling for

a bit. There was about an hour left of sunlight, and I spent it eating and sitting inside the tent on my sleeping bag. After a while, I could tell the sun was setting, but soon after, a sound came from somewhere nearby: a crackling sound, like from a campfire. I unzipped the opening and stepped out, being immediately faced by a man sitting across the campsite, right next to where the half-burnt logs were. He was older than me, probably in his 40s, but there wasn't much else I could see from the little amount of sunlight coming in

through the trees. He was already looking at me, so I nervously waved my hand at him. The man waited a few seconds, then lifted his hand as well. I went around to the back of my tent and got a pile of sticks, then made a small campfire. It only took a few minutes before it was mostly dark out; there was only the light from my campfire and the man's campfire on the other side. I kept looking over, trying to see if he had a tent, a backpack, or something, but all I could see was him.

Every time I looked, I only got more weirded out and uneasy. Where did he even come from? My tent was set up right next to the trail, so I would have heard him walk up unless he came from the other side, which was just empty woods. I sat out there for at least an hour—probably two—and never saw the man move from his spot. He just sat by the fire, looking forward. Eventually, I went inside my tent, figuring I had to be overthinking all of this and that the man was probably just another camper. He was

at a public camping ground, after all. I laid down and tried to rest, but I don't think my mind would let me sleep for some reason, so I just stared at the ceiling and listened to the faint crackling of the man's campfire. I was in there for probably another hour before I heard leaves slowly crunching, making their way toward my tent. I sat up and listened more carefully until I could see the shadow of the man standing on the other side of the fabric. My whole body froze, watching him just stand there for a moment—

not moving, not speaking. Then, his shadow started moving away as I heard the leaves crunch into the distance. I quickly unzipped the tent and looked out; the campground was empty. The man was gone, having left only the burning logs. I started to pack up, shoving the tent into its holder and even breaking some of the rods just to move faster. I left without ever seeing the man come back. As for what happened out there or what was going to happen, I really don't know. This happened to me three years ago when I'd moved into a

small home. It was only a mile from where I was living before, so it wasn't a very unfamiliar place at all. However, it was on the side of town that I didn't really go to often due to it having a record of crimes and just overall a bad reputation. At the time, I wasn't in a good financial place, so I had to go with the cheaper places, which happened to be in that area. The day I moved in, I didn't talk or really even see anyone; I just moved my stuff from the U-Haul into my

new place. On the second day, I started the unpacking process by moving the boxes and furniture into the rooms that they belonged in. Once I got to moving my office furniture, though, I saw something out the window that caught my attention. There was a young man, about 25 years old, standing in my driveway. I watched as he just looked at the house and walked into the yard, looking into my windows from afar. Getting uncomfortable, I left the window and went downstairs to confront him, but when I opened the door and looked outside, he was already

gone—not in my yard or driveway or even on any of the sidewalks. He just completely left. I waited to see if he'd come back but then shrugged it off and got back to what I was doing. Yeah, it was weird, but I didn't know what exactly I was supposed to do about it. I got my office set up, then went out to get some lunch before getting back to work on the bedroom. By 8:00 p.m., I was pretty tired. I kept on with it for as long as I could, but once 10:00 rolled around, I

was just done for the night. The house was still a mess, but I left it as is, turning off all the lights and getting in bed. It only took a few minutes for me to fall asleep. When I woke up, I rolled my head over and looked at the clock I had laying on the floor: 3:00. A.M. I rolled back over and closed my eyes, but a muffled sound woke me right back up. I lifted my head and listened again, hearing a faint sound from downstairs. It was like something being dragged across the floor. Still

in disbelief, I sat up and listened even more intently. A few seconds later, a similar sound came again. I stood from my bed and walked over to the bedroom door, opening it and looking down the hallway as I listened. But as soon as I opened the door, all the sounds stopped. I walked into the hall and over to the staircase. I went down a few steps and looked over the railing, but I didn't see anything, and the house was still completely quiet. When I got to the last step, I flicked on the light. At first,

everything looked okay—nothing missing and nobody in the house. But then I noticed something really strange: all of the furniture and boxes that were against the wall had been pushed away, and behind them there were several carved-out portions in the wall. I felt blood rush from my face as I realized that someone had to have broken into my house and may even still be inside. I ran up to my room and called for help, but the house remained quiet the whole time I waited. What's more unsettling is that the cops couldn't figure out how the intruder

got inside or back outside, nor did they figure out why the person broke in. The only idea is that it looks like they were looking for something in the walls. I don't know what, but there was nothing else to go off of. I think back to that man I saw standing outside my house, wondering if he was the one who had broken in. But even three years later, nothing else is known about what happened that night. I had just turned 19 and was staying at home from college for the next few months for summer break.

My mom lives in the city in the same house I grew up in, but my dad moved into a small home outside the city. It was backed up to the woods, and I always felt so relaxed while I was there; just being away from everything felt very freeing. Anyway, over the course of the summer, I got the idea to go camping for just a night somewhere in the woods behind my dad's house. I had all the gear already, and I'd gone camping before, so it just seemed like a harmless, fun night. I didn't plan on

going far out—maybe just walking for a half hour, then finding a good spot to set up. So I left about two hours till sunset. I walked with no music or anything, just soaking in the environment and sounds of nature until I made it far enough out to start setting up my gear. I pitched my tent and got a fire going, then relaxed as the sun set and the woods fell quiet. A couple of hours into the night, I went to bed. I had planned to leave in the morning, but when I woke up, I felt

like hanging out for a little bit longer. I went for a casual walk and sat by the tent. Surprisingly, the day felt to have gone by really fast; before I knew it, the sun was making its way down. I packed up my things and cleaned up, then started walking back home. I walked between the trees, having a conversation with myself in my head to pass the time, but as the sun started getting lower and lower, I realized it had been a while since I'd left. I stopped and lifted my head, looking around. I didn't really

recognize the area; obviously, there was no path, so I could have just been walking in a slightly different direction, but something seemed wrong. After an entire minute of looking around, though, I honestly had no clue which way to go. If I had been going in the right direction, I should have been home already or at least to the road that my dad's house was on. Racing the sun, though, I decided to just continue in the direction I was going, hoping that at some point I'd reach a road. As I walked, the woods got darker and

darker, sending me into somewhat of a nervous breakdown. I was looking everywhere for anything to tell me where to go, but now the woods were too dark to even see anything further than 30 or 40 feet. But then I saw a light flickering in the distance. I got excited, walking quickly toward it until I could make out a dark house sitting in the middle of the trees. I thought it was maybe one of my dad's neighbors or that it would at least lead me to a road that I could walk along. But as I approached

the opening in the woods, I didn't see anything—no roads, no light from other houses, and not even a gravel driveway. The house was old-looking too, resembling more of a cabin. But there was a light in the downstairs window that was on, so it definitely wasn't vacant. I walked around to the other side of it, staying in the tree line still, but there were no signs of any roads or houses on either side. Regrettably, I decided my only option was to ask whoever lived there for help. I walked up to the front door, listening for a

second before ringing the doorbell. Immediately, I heard footsteps running down some stairs and right up to the other side, knowing they were probably looking at me through the peephole. I called out to them, "Hi, sorry, I'm just lost. I was hoping you could tell me which direction the nearest street is?" There was a pause; then they opened the door. Two men stood there, both looking to be in their 40s and appearing kind of disheveled. One of them took a step forward and looked outside, behind me at the tree line, as if looking for anyone else.

There was a moment where both of them were quiet. “Come inside; we'll help you out,” one of the men said, opening the door wider and stepping aside. "I'm okay; I just need you to point me in the right direction, please," I said, not wanting to go into some random house in the woods and also not really seeing the point of it. Both men frowned, then one spoke, saying he just wanted to talk about why I was out here. I told them I was just camping and got lost, but they looked at each other like I

was lying. Then one of them stepped out and stood pretty close to me as he looked around at the trees more intently. When he stepped out, though, he revealed the room behind him, which only had a small lamp in the middle of the floor, surrounded by nothing but dust. I took a step away from the man, and both of them suddenly turned cold. Their facial expressions and body language just became empty as they stood there in silence. Before I knew it, one lunged at me, trying to tackle me to the ground. Luckily, I reacted quickly

enough to slip away before the other man got to me. I sprinted for the trees, hearing one of the men's footsteps coming up behind me, but once I made it into the woods, the man gave up the chase, and soon after, the lights from the house shut off. Hours passed before I made it to a road, finding out I had hiked miles in the wrong direction. I told my dad about the encounter, though, and he took it to the police to investigate. But we were terrified to hear that the house I wandered into was an

old vacation cabin that had been abandoned decades ago. Whoever those men were likely used a generator to power the lights and whatever else they were doing, but why they were there, nobody knows. The way they were acting, though, seemed like they were trying to not get caught, so if they had succeeded in getting me into their house, I'm not sure if I ever would have gotten out. I was driving back to my hometown from a work trip I had earlier in the week. I declined the free flight to and from because I decided to take

some time off to myself while I was there to enjoy a small vacation. Driving long distance wasn't something I'd ever really done before, though the most I'd gone was about ten hours, and that was with a stop at a hotel halfway. But this road trip was way longer; it was nearly twenty hours, and I had only scheduled a single hotel. But just because I'd never driven that long before didn't make me think I couldn't do it. The drive started out okay, going through cities and towns and having plenty of other cars around me, seemingly taking

the same route. As I got further out, though, cars became a lot less common, and the towns had pretty much disappeared. The roads were nothing but fields of grass on either side or dense forests. By 5 p.m., the light drizzling that had started earlier became more intense, pouring rain down hard enough to make it difficult to see. It seemed like the more I drove into this forested area, the harder the rain fell. I hoped it would stop by sunset, but it didn't. I was now really focused on the road, driving slowly and trying to make

sure I navigated the road carefully without sliding into a ditch. I drove through this awful rain for probably an entire hour past sunset when I started to realize the road was getting a lot more winding rather than straight. It began taking me much deeper into the forest, where the trees were close together and blocking all views. After a while, I started getting nervous, thinking this was really odd for a highway to be like this. I slowed down and pulled off to the side of the road, stopping on the shoulder. I took my phone out and

tried searching up the directions, but there was no service. All I'd remembered of the route was that I had to take the same highway pretty much the entire way there. Maybe I was on the right road and was just paranoid, or maybe I'd been focusing so hard on trying to see through the rain that I'd accidentally merged onto a different road. The problem was that I had no way to figure out which of those two possibilities was right. I looked out the window in hopes I'd see a sign or anything that could give me an

idea of where I was. All I could see through the harsh rain were the woods all around me, fading into total black beyond my headlights. But then, only a minute or so after I had stopped, a light came up behind me. I looked in the mirror as it got brighter, rounding one of the corners and coming toward my car. Their headlights were so bright I couldn't even see their car; all I could see was the beaming glare in my mirrors. I watched as the light started moving slower and slower until it stopped right behind my

car. Part of me felt relieved that someone stopped to help me, but another part of me was thinking of the other possibilities. A whole minute passed as the car stayed there, leaving their headlights on and showing no signs of anything, until a door suddenly opened. It was still too bright to see much of anything, but the dark outline of a man emerged from the light and came right up to my window. The man was wearing a dark hoodie and seemed unbothered by the rain as he leaned on the door. While I rolled the window down

a couple of inches, he asked if I needed help, and I responded by explaining that I just needed to know where I was and if I was still on the right highway. He looked at me, then at my back seat, as he nodded, "Yeah, I can help you. Let me just get my phone." He began walking off as I rolled my window back up to block out the rain. There was something off about my interaction with him, but I couldn't figure out what it was. It just felt off. Why didn't he know what road we

were on or if we were on the highway? I watched in the mirrors until the man went behind the glaring lights again, but I could see him shuffling around with something in his car for a few moments before he came back out. He made his way over, but in the moments before he reached my car, I caught a glimpse of something in his hand. Just as I reacted and put the car in drive, the man suddenly knelt down by my back tire and jammed something in it. I slammed on the gas, seeing the man get

visibly startled and jump back as I drove away as fast as I could. I knew he'd probably try to catch up, so I drove in a panic for several minutes, fearing the thought of seeing the lights come up behind me. Luckily, though, they never did. I made it about three miles before I finally happened upon an intersection with a sign for a gas station up ahead. When I pulled in, I of course first called the police, but I also found that the man had stabbed my tire with a screwdriver that was still wedged into the

side of the tire, hanging partially out. That still being in there and covering the hole is probably the only reason I was able to make it away without breaking down on the road. If I had been even a second too late at driving away, I don't think I would have ever been seen after that night.