4 Creepy TRUE Boardwalk Horror Stories

[Music] I don't live much of an exciting life but whenever people ask me for a scary story this is the one I tell I was 15 at the time about to start my sophomore year of high school I grew up in a typical Beach Town packed with tourists during the summer but a ghost town as soon as the season ended the bars and restaurants all closed down and it's just the locals the sky and the ocean if you've never been down the shore during the off seon I would strongly recommend it it's one of the

strangest yet most calming feelings you can get from this life as cliche as it sounds our house is on a street called Surf Avenue and it's only a block from the beach funny enough I know how to surf it would honestly be pretty pathetic if I lived on a street called surf a without even knowing how to do it I'd lived there my whole childhood so the boardwalk and sand had always been a part of my routine damn near part of my personality to be honest I don't live in that specific house anymore but the

property has stayed in the family so it still feels like a piece of me at the time I was on my High School varsity's cross country team and I was kind of obsessive about staying in shape even during the off season Summers get insanely hot down the shore so I usually ran super early in the morning or late at night times when I wouldn't melt in the Heat or have to be that jerk weaving in between cracks CRS that night I decided to go for a late night run IID stayed up pretty late with some

friends the night before and slept in that morning so I kind of had no choice I never brought my phone with me when I ran it was always annoying not having music but even that little bit of extra weight would be enough to throw me off I don't know if they still make them anymore but I had this rinky dinky little Garmin watch that I used to track distance and Pace besides that the only other thing I'd carry was my house keys to put it mildly my parents were incredibly uptight about keeping the house locked

so as annoying as it was I really had no choice but to stuff my house keys in my shorts pocket every time I went for a run even if they were home it was one of those non-negotiable rules I still don't really understand why my parents were so concerned about it especially because most private beach towns are typically super safe but that's neither here nor there I decided to stick to the boardwalk that night the surface was just soft enough to be easy on my legs but not as brutal as running on the sand sometimes

i' jog on the beach for a challenge but that wasn't happening after the day I'd had I just wanted a nice easy long run with minimal changes in elevation or terrain the boardwalk would give me just that I started zoning out after a few miles enjoying that euphoric runner's high I always tell people even today if you could break that first mental barrier which occurs after about 3 mil or so the rest of the run is easy and borderline enjoyable anyway I was listening to the slap of my shoes against the wood while simultaneously trying

to concentrate on the distant sounds of the ocean I was in that perfect Rhythm where you forget you're even running but then I heard it a faint clink I stopped and checked my pocket empty my stomach dropped it was my keys I crouched down peering through the gaps in the boardwalk but it was useless it was pitch black under there and there was no way I'd even be able to retrieve them from where I was I started cursing literally yelling out loud I know that sounds a little silly but the adrenaline was still pumping through

me from the exercise and I was pissed that this detour had ruined my run I knew my parents would have killed me if I came back without those keys so without really thinking I jumped off the side and headed down to the sand it was also partly a matter of Pride I wasn't just going to walk away from one of my personal belongings who does that the smell Under the Boardwalk hit me instantly it was like rotten seaweed mixed with stale beer that's honestly the best way to describe it imagine literally filling a bathtub with

seaweed and beer it was damp and heavy and every step I took I kicked up sand and trash like I said before I didn't have my phone with me so the backlight on my watch was the only thing guiding me and it wasn't doing much I crouched down to the spot where I thought my keys had fallen they were nowhere in sight just more clumps of sand and scraps of garbage I'll repeat myself it was disgusting but I needed those keys I thought about just leaving them but decided that I had gotten this far and

turning back now would mean I had gotten covered in garbage and stench for nothing I tried Shifting the sand around a bit thinking maybe they had fallen beneath the surface but after a few minutes frustration started to creep in had I really misjudged the spot by that much I concluded that that was the most rational explanation that I had somehow misjudged where they had fallen I climbed back up to the boardwalk stood where I had stopped running and thought about how I could be sure of the spot underneath that's when I got this genius idea

to use my shoelace as a marker I knelt down untied it and slipped it between the planks letting it hang that way I could crawl back under the boardwalk and Spott it from below easily as I was standing back up something tugged on the lace and it instantly disappeared into the crack not a breeze not me moving weirdly something from below I couldn't believe my eyes I was literally in shock someone had pulled it I took a step back and stared at the spot where my shoelace had just been there was someone underneath the boardwalk

I instantly put two and two together whoever was under there probably had my keys too my first instinct was to run home and figure it out later but the thought of someone having my house keys knowing where I lived made my blood boil our house address was etched into them so I couldn't just leave some stranger with that kind of access I still don't know why I did it call it stupid teenage confidence but I took a deep breath jumped back into the sand and crawled under again it felt different the second time the air

felt heavier and I was bracing myself for some kind of fight at one point I heard faint shuffling somewhere ahead of me my chest tightened I swung my watch light toward the sound but saw nothing just more sand and Beams I kept moving and I heard shuffling again this time from a different direction that's when I realized the noise wasn't coming from one spot there were multiple people under there that was enough for me Common Sense struck me in the face like a freight train what in the world could I have possibly expected to happen

was I just going to fight some crackhead living under the Boardwalk that was suicide I turned to get out of there trying not to panic but before I could make it all the way out something cold latched onto my ankle it was a hand I screamed in pain as fingernails dug into my skin I didn't think I just kicked as hard as I could my foot connected with something and whoever was holding on to my ankle let go I scrambled away my legs and arms scraping against the sand and wood as I pushed myself out

into the open air I didn't stop running I sprinted straight back to my house when I reached the front door I pounded on it until my dad opened up to say he was pissed would be a massive understatement he was livid I was surprised he didn't get physical with me before he could fully flip out I explained everything the keys the shoelace The People Under The Boardwalk the commotion woke my mom up who was furious at first but when she saw the marks on my ankle her expression shifted to something closer to fear my dad

didn't waste time he called the police and the next morning we had a locksmith come out and change all the locks on the house for a couple of days things felt normal again I figured that was the end of it just a weird messed up night that I try to forget but then a few mornings later I woke up to loud knocking at the front door it was early way too early for visitors I sat in bed for a while waiting for my parents to go deal with it when neither of them did I decided

to do it myself so I pulled on a hoodie and went downstairs I looked through the peephole but there was no one there confused I opened the door looking around there was no one in sight I glanced around the street no cars no people right when I was about to close the door I noticed something out of the corner of my eye sitting on the doormat was a shoelace my shoelace the one from that night I slammed the door shut without another thought we got a security system installed that afternoon for weeks afterwards my family

lived in constant fear but nothing ever happened after that when I think back to this experience I still can't rationalize the events that took place even though I don't live in that house anymore it still kind of creeps me out that some random stranger knows where our beach house is [Music] the thing about living in a Beach town during the off seon is that it feels deserted the tourists are long gone the storefronts are mostly boarded up and the boardwalk the heart of the town in the summer is nothing but an empty skeleton of itself

I like it though it's peaceful that's why for the longest time I go for late night runs on the boardwalk in the off season when no one was there it was my detox from life and all the stress that come with it sometimes you just need to be away from people there was something about the sound of the waves and the rhythmic slap of my sneakers against the wooden planks that calmed me it made me feel like I had the whole world to myself tonight was no different the air was crisp carrying that scent of

salt and damp wood the only lights came from the occasional Street Lamp buzzing faintly casting long lonely Shadows I was maybe a mile in when I got that feeling the one where you just know you're not alone I glanced over my shoulder a man stood in the distance not walking not moving just standing there on the boardwalk facing me I swallowed and turned back around shaking it off it was probably nothing maybe just another local taking a walk but honestly no matter what that's still going to be an eerie sight to see I kept running

but a few minutes later the feeling of being followed or watched came back even stronger my heart thudded more intensely not from exertion but something else the Curiosity to turn around again thickened so I turned around again he was closer still not moving still just standing there facing me a deep crawling unease settled in my stomach I picked up the pace now taking out my one headphone that I had in my feet pounded against the wood breath coming quicker but every few moments I heard footsteps behind me in sync with mine I turned again he

was even closer but still he was completely still I broke into a Sprint but one soothing Boardwalk felt like an endless trap stretching too far in both directions my car was at the very end parked right by the beach entrance I just had to make it there I ran harder than I ever had before my lungs burns my legs screams but I refuse to stop every few seconds I turned my head just enough to check and every single time he was a little closer still standing and still watching I didn't understand how he was able

to stop so suddenly every time I turned around I wasn't even looking where I was going anymore just focused on getting away the boardwalk exit finally came into view and I nearly sobbed in relief when I saw my car I fumbled for my keys hand shaking so badly I could barely press the unlock button finally the lights flashed and I yanked the door open throwing myself inside and slamming it shut I turned the key in the ignition and backed the car out of the spot when I put the car and drive to whip the wheel

to the left to turn out of there I looked ahead and the man was standing directly in front of my car right where my car had just been but I looked at him so briefly that I didn't even have time to make out any features all I saw was that he had his hood up covering a decent chunk of his face I cranked the wheel to the left and almost spun out as I whipped my car out of there the entire way home I didn't care if I ran a red light if I swerved or

if I nearly spun out I just drove I didn't look back when I got home I locked every door every window every possible entrance I didn't sleep that night and I've had a couple of nightmares referencing that experience both in which that man appeared in some form watching me or chasing me my mind created its own versions of what he looked like I guess since I really didn't see his face they were not pretty images I haven't done a winter run on the boardwalk since [Music] then this happened last summer I was 22 spending a

weekend at the shore with a bunch of friends in the cheapest Airbnb we could find it was the last night of our stay we'd been out on the beach all night with a bonfire just hanging out drinking and talking nothing Crazy by the end most of my friends were ready to call it but I wasn't tired yet I figured I'd walk off the Buzz for a bit and then find my way to the Airbnb after that the boardwalk at night has this weird peacefulness to it everything's empty I haven't spent much time at the beach

so it was all very new and interesting to me after wandering around for a while I realized I really had to pee I'm not really the type of guy to just do it in public which is something my friends often make fun of me for so this was a bit of an issue I spotted one of those public Boardwalk bathrooms old beat up and barely lit not ideal but I didn't feel like holding it until I got back I pushed the door open and immediately regretted it the place smelled awful like a mix of bleach

and whatever it was trying to cover up I figured I'd make it quick so I went to the farthest stall that's when I heard the Door Creek open again I winced annoyed that I'd no longer have privacy I listened as their footsteps slowly walked around they seemed to be circling the bathroom which was kind of odd at times I thought the footsteps were coming from multiple directions like there was more than one person but I wasn't sure eventually they stopped near the sinks just stopped no movement no coughs nothing the water didn't turn on either

so I wasn't really sure what they were doing I finished up ready to get out of there but when I went to push the stall door open it didn't budge I jiggled the latch but the door was still stuck I wanted to punch the stall door that's how angry and uncomfortable I was but then the footsteps started again they were closer this time and I got this really naughty feeling in my chest I felt like someone was holding the door shut I tried to shove the door with my shoulder but still nothing the adrenaline was

starting to kick in and a part of my brain began connecting the dots I decided I wasn't just going to sit there like some helpless Target I charged the door with all the force I could muster and it finally gave way sending me stumbling out as I burst out of the stall I noticed the bathroom door swing shut like someone had just walked out I scanned the bathroom which was now empty that person who had been walking around in there was seemingly gone I hastily washed my hands and went to get out of there I

grabbed the door handle but it wouldn't budge the handle wouldn't even turn as if the bathroom had somehow been locked from the outside I froze my mind was racing at that point was this some kind of prank I thought it was maybe one of my friends screwing with me but that didn't really make sense they had all left already they didn't even see where I had gone plus this wasn't really something any of them would do either way I was pretty freaked out at that point so I just gritted my teeth and started banging on

the door I yelled for whoever was out there to open up but I didn't get a response just then I heard movement in one of the Stalls behind me I whipped my head around and even though I couldn't see anything I knew there was a person in one of those stalls that meant there had been two people in there the whole time I didn't see any feet under any of the doors so they must have been standing on one of the toilets which was even more concerning I thought about calling the police but I needed

to get to safety first I was in danger I noticed a grimy window up near the ceiling it wasn't big but I didn't have another option I climbed onto the sink beneath it which I literally thought was going to break under my weight and I shoved the window open as I was halfway out the window one of the stall doors burst open behind me and I locked eyes with a man he was really hairy and the palest skin I've ever seen he was dressed like a teenager but this guy had to be like 50 years

old I didn't waste another second I scrambled the rest of the way through the window and dropped down onto the boardwalk my knee hit the ground hard but I didn't care I just ran when I got a safe distance away I called the cops they showed up pretty quickly it was a Beach town after all but by the time they checked the bathroom that guy was long gone that part of the boardwalk was dead no cameras no shops open that late so it's not like there were any cameras they could check I showed the officers

where everything had gone down and one of them pointed to the scratches on the bathroom door handle saying it looked like someone had messed with it we all agreed whoever it was didn't want me leaving which was not the most comforting thing the officers told me I was smart to escape through the window and that was that I had to leave the beach the next day so I never got any kind of update on the situation I doubt the police even really investigated much [Music] anyway I'm sorry in advance if I mess up some details

of the story but it happened when I was really young I don't remember exactly how old I was when it happens maybe 8 or 9 but I know it was during one of those Summers my family spent at my grandparents beach house it was kind of like the family Hub every summer a bunch of us my siblings cousins Aunts Uncles would Pile in for weekends or weeks at a time the house wasn't super fancy or anything but it had like a million bedrooms and could sleep our whole family easily it was also really close to

the beach Beach so I used to spend entire days playing in the sand and exploring the neighborhood on my bike every summer I spent there was amazing it still feels like an extended fever dream especially now as I'm getting further and further removed from that Blissful childhood I remember that summer being different though there was some big hurricane forecasted one that had all the beach Town scrambling to take precautions months in advance I'm not sure if other beach towns did this but ours built these massive sand dunes along the shore as a makeshift barrier I'm

not sure if calling them Dunes is exactly accurate they were huge I mean to a kid they looked like castle walls I bet the aerial view of the coast during that time would have looked absolutely nutty that summer my siblings and I would spend hours climbing the dunes tumbling down the other side pretending we were scaling mountains or sneaking into a fortress it was weird though as you could probably imagine usually when you're standing on the boardwalk facing the beach you can see the ocean stretching out in front of you but those Dunes they completely

block The View you'd walk along the boardwalk and instead of water there was just this giant wall of sand the beach also closed after a certain hour like the lifeguards would go off duty and people weren't technically permitted to go on the beach but that never really stopped us locals the town was safe the kind of place where everyone knew everyone and letting kids roam wasn't considered a big deal especially after the touristy crowds thinned out as long as we promised not not to go in the ocean our parents didn't really mind and to be

honest I was kind of a little troublemaker back then I liked pushing boundaries especially when I thought I could get away with it that's what led me to sneak out that evening it wasn't Dark Yet the sun hadn't even started setting but I hadn't asked permission to go out I just wanted some alone time I think I'd gotten into a fight with one of my brothers but I don't really remember the sliding door downstairs where all the kids' bedrooms were made it easy to come and go unnoticed my older cousins had practically written The Playbook

on sneaking in and out usually for way more rebellious reasons than a solo beachwalk but I'd learned from them even today we still laugh about how easy it was to sneak people in and out of the house without alerting the adults anyway as quietly as I could I stepped outside my bare feet not even bothering to put shoes on I made my way toward the boardwalk expecting to encounter some locals maybe even some kids my age even after Beach hours there were usually people around anyone who had or was staying in a house down there

really I was kind of surprised to see how empty it was it was a little strange I'm talking not a single soul outside it felt deserted in all honesty I walked along the boardwalk for a little while half expecting to see someone but I never did it was literally like the whole Beach was asleep that night or something I was about to head back when I noticed something alarming there was a thin trail of smoke rising from Beyond one of the dunes at first I thought it was just fog but I took a closer look

and confirmed that it was smoke like smoke from a fire kind of smoke smoke on the beach wasn't that unusual even though it was really against Beach rules and borderline illegal sometimes tourists lit bonfires but there was something about how empty everything was that night that made the smoke feel wrong to my mind it kind of looked like a volcano as the smoke sort of just emanated from the Sand Dune I looked around for an adult but there was no one just the empty Boardwalk stretching out in both directions I should have gone home but

curiosity got the better of me plus my parents had taught me to never turn my back on someone in need and this situation kind of felt like that I climbed the sand dun a little ways away from the Smoke by the time I reached the top I was covered in sand I looked down the other side and saw what I expected to see a bonfire the weird thing is that it was completely isolated there was no one around there were no chairs no coolers nothing just a fire burning in the middle of an empty Beach

as if whoever had said it had abandoned it it didn't sit right with me even at that age I knew leaving a fire like that was dangerous I slid down the Dune and made my way over to it I stood there for a second just staring at it I didn't know what else to do so I just started kicking sand onto it I did that over and over until the Flames were finally suffocated I didn't want to leave it just yet I was way too curious I couldn't think of any reason why someone would light

a fire just to abandon it unless they were trying to commit a crime or something I inspected the fire pit some more and made some Eerie discoveries first there were clothes little kids clothes like stuff that I'd wear kids shoes socks half bured Fabrics I bent down using a stick to poke around I realized that the fire had mostly been clothes which gave me a really sick feeling inside but then I realized what else had been burning photos were at least what was left of them most were charred beyond recognition but one had survived enough

for me to make out a face it was a boy probably around my age he honestly looked a little bit like me like if one of my parents told me he was a distant cousin or something I'd believe them the picture made me really scared I felt myself wanting to run and I dropped the stick I was in I was just a little kid I obviously hadn't been through anything that scary before so I was really freaking out but it got so much worse I Heard a Voice shout out hey from somewhere in the distance

I looked up and there was a man coming toward me from down the beach he was bald but I couldn't see much else of his face from so far away he was also staggering every few steps as if he were fighting not to trip over on his own feet it looked like he was drunk or something worse he yelled Hey kid and started moving a little more quickly toward me I couldn't move I was frozen to the spot petrified in fear he yelled don't you go anywhere and that was what did it for me my

little brain finally caught up to my body and I started running towards the sand wall the sand made running hard but I felt like I was in a life and death situation I started climbing the Dune and I could hear him yelling obscene things behind me he was getting closer just as I reached the top I felt fingernails clawing at my ankle by some miracle he was never able to get a grip on me and I vaulted myself over the Dune tumbling down to the bottom I sprinted for the boardwalk and ran all the way

home I looked back a few times to make sure he wasn't following me which he wasn't but I kept running like my life depended on it when I got home I immediately went to my bedroom and started crying I wanted to tell my parents I really did but all I could think about was how I'd snuck out and how much trouble I'd be in so I kept my mouth shut looking back I know I should have said something I should have told my parents at least but I didn't and nothing ever came of it as

far as I know there were no news reports no police at the beach the next day no reports of missing children in the area or anything like that I still don't know what to make of this even though it happened a long time ago I can't help but feel like there's more to the story I think what terrifies me the most is how eerily similar that that kid in those photos look to me sometimes I wish I could go back in time and tell my younger self to just fess up but that's just something I'll

have to live with