Stalked

“My mom’s bad feeling might’ve saved me as an infant. She was walking with me in a stroller, down her suburban neighborhood street. She says she started to feel a tingling feeling like she was being watched, so she decided to turn around and head back home. A few streets later she noticed a car driving slowly behind her, the driver, a man, starting at her and me.

She starts walking a bit faster and notices he drives a bit faster to keep up, so she gets really scared. Before she can start running – this is the 90s and she didn’t have a cellphone – he rolls down the window and tells her not to run or stop, because she’s being stalked by a coyote.

He saw her safely to our doorstep and then pointed out the coyote, who had followed us half a mile and looked rangy and desperate. It had been slipping from brush to brush looking for an opening. So glad for her intuition and the stranger’s help!” — abby315

Near miss

“My dad is a truck driver and has always told me if you are on the interstate near a semi and smell burnt rubber get away from them because they are about to blow a tire. One day driving to work i smell burnt rubber. There was a semi next to me so I sped up to get ahead of him. Next thing I know I see a huge crash in my rear view with one car going airborne and flipping. I called the accident in to 911 and then watched the news and papers the rest of the day. Thankfully no fatalities but it was nasty. The semi blew a tire and the car next to it in the middle lane swerved to avoid the tire fragment and hit the car in the far lane causing it to flip. I would have been right in the middle of it all.” — Theharlotnextdoor

Something told me I needed to leave

“Greyhound left me in Santa Ana at 3:00 am told me to wait four hours alone for the next bus.

Normally I’m very selective on when I call ubers but for some reason, something told me I needed to leave right away. I find out my hotel is only about 15 minutes away (wow a four-hour wait???) So I call an uber.

Uber driver picks me up, I get in the car tell him something along the lines of “Man they wanted me to wait four hours and the station is closed wtf.” He says he’s glad I called him instead of waiting for the next bus. I ask why he says it’s a dangerous area and a few weeks ago another girl decided to wait for the next bus and they raped and robbed her. Nobody found her until the station opened up again the next day.

Now I always travel with pepper spray.” — Rosekun25

Weird van

“I’ve had a few, but one of the most prevalent that comes to mind is when my older sister and I were kids. I was 8 and she was either 10 or had just turned 11.

My dad had just bought a new house that wasn’t finished being built yet, so we were staying at my grandpas house for about a month while our new house was being constructed.

My sister and I were playing outside when I saw this weird van pull around the corner. I had been taught about creepy white vans in school, so when I saw it, I paid attention and took in the details. Everything except the windshield was tinted. The driver saw us and started to speed up, and I just told my sister we need to get inside.

Right as my sister got up, I looked back at the van and saw a guy open the side sliding door and stare straight at us.

We made it inside and locked the door. I peeked through the window and saw the van go slowly by while the guy who opened the side door was scanning the yard.

I told my mom when she got home about an hour later, and while she said were right to play it safe, and we always should, I heard her tell my dad later that it was probably nothing and we let our imaginations scare us. It was a new place in a neighborhood we weren’t comfortable in, so that must be it, according to my mom.

The next morning, my grandpa woke me and my sister up and told us that there were cops down the street and that a little girl had been abducted, and the police wanted us to tell them about the van we saw

Security cameras from a couple houses down saw the van too… and my grandpas next door neighbor also had security cameras that showed the van drive by with the side door open and a guy hanging out and looking in our yard.

We moved into our new house before we got an update, but my grandpa went to church with the couple whose daughter was abducted. The van was found, along with the clothes the daughter had been wearing. Her body was found in the wetlands a few months later.

If we hadn’t trusted my gut, that would have been my sister and I.” — Atlas_Black

Weird feeling

“What just seemed like a bad storm had started, my ex then decided to play with the dog out in the back yard in the rain. I got a weird feeling about how strong the winds were and despite being called crazy I told my ex she and the dog needed to go down into the basement for shelter with me.

Within 15 minutes half my roof was gone. Apparently the storm was a derecho, which I’d not even heard of before that.” — IAmASolipsist

Creepy camera

“We were hiking and geocaching up in Northern Michigan, where it’s pretty rednecky in spots. We were at a designated trail with a small parking lot off on some weird side road, but we decided to check it out anyway. About 5 minutes into the trail we noticed a game camera, but there was no ID on it (game cameras on public land need to have ID info), and we thought that was really strange. We kept walking a bit, but I just didn’t feel right about the camera or walking on this trail, so we turned around and went back to the truck instead of walking the last mile of the trail.

When we got back to the truck, this beater pulls up with a couple in it; the guy was just a regular redneck but the girl in his passenger seat 100% had the nods and was struggling to keep her head up. He looked surprised when we walked out of the trail and they sat in the lot for a second and then left. Pretty sure they weren’t looking to go for a hike.

My guess is that was their camera and they get the notifications when people are on the trail so they can break into their cars. It happened to us on a family trip in Kentucky years ago so maybe I’m just a little suspicious, but we decided no more backwoods hidden nature trails for us.” — GoodbyeTobyseeya1

A flash of panic

“My Gf and I had just picked up a bunch of metal fence posts and stacked them in the back of her car. As we neared being done I had a flash of panic realizing that the points were aimed right at us if we got in an accident. So I turned the whole pile to be cock eyed so it wouldn’t be dead on.

On the way home we hit construction. We stopped at the giant flashing traffic light, the guy behind us didn’t. We got rear ended by an SUV doing 60+. I instantly had that same flash of panic and looked over at my GF. She was fine, I look down, I’m fine. Look in the back, the fence posts are firmly wedged into the sides of the car after being slammed forward by the rear end crumpling.” — xxkoloblicinxx

I’m a little bitch

“I’m 19. Buying weed with a friend. We go to some seedy apartment in the Bronx with a third guy. Third guy wasn’t really my friend, kinda like a childhood bully. We get to the building and walk up a few flights and there’s 3 guys in the stairwell smoking crack. These are our dealers. I’m uncomfortable as hell. One of the crackheads tells me to stop being such a little bitch. Third guy chimes in and says if I’m going to be a little bitch I can leave. So I leave. Friend comes with me. Days later we find out the crackheads jumped the third guy. Took his wallet and phone. Beat him up pretty bad. Needed his jaw wired for a few months. I’m a little bitch, but I still have my phone and teeth.” — Bobik8

Listen to your gut

“In high school I was at a party and the cops showed up. A couple of people booked it but they just told us to turn down the music. I had a bad feeling about one of the guys I saw running away, he just didn’t seem okay, like when he was running it was like he was switching between running on all fours and on two feet. I wanted to get a couple people together to go look for him because we were in a very rural area and I thought it might be dangerous for him to be in the woods all night as drunk as he was. Everyone told me to stop whining and being paranoid, that he was fit, not that drunk, and he was from the area so he knew his way around (I was new to the area so I thought the woods were a bigger deal than they did) They found him the next day drowned in like 2 inches of water. I will always regret shutting up because they called me whiny and paranoid.” — inmywhiteroom

Boyfriend thought I was being paranoid

“When I was 17, I used to go jogging early in the mornings. My then bf lived about 7 blocks down the road, so I’d jog to his house, then we’d loop around a park together before heading back to our respective homes. I started noticing a guy sitting in his car in the park, watching us run. After a week of this, I’d see the same guy along my jogging route, close to my house, in addition to him being at the park. He’d sit in his car and watch me run, drive to the park, then watch me some more. My bf thought I was being paranoid about it all.

One morning, it was really, really foggy out. I started to cross the street and as I was almost across, someone turned their headlights on bright and it blinded me. Instead of going forward, I stopped and started walked backwards, towards my house. As my eyes adjusted, I could see that the man who’d been watching me was standing next to his car, with the trunk popped open. I noped out of there and went home. I never jogged there again. I reported it to the police (my bf’s step dad insisted) but they didn’t seem to care.

Two years later, a 16-year-old girl was kidnapped, stuffed into a trunk, then driven out to the countryside. She was beaten, raped, and left there naked. By the description of the man and the car, I knew it was done by the same guy who watched me jog. They never caught him.” — bittyitty

I felt flayed alive

“Took my friend out for a drink, first time she had been out since having her daughter 12 weeks earlier, had a round then I went to the restroom, came back to find her having shots at a table with this random dude. Random dude looked at me and I felt flayed alive, nothing in his eyes but malice. I grabbed my friends hand, said loudly “WE ARE LEAVING, NOW”. We left immediately. I went back the next day to pay the tab we walked out on and the bartender told me that same man was arrested for attacking a woman outside of the bar.” — Honey_Society

Creepy truck

“I was about 11 or 12 years old, at a neighbor’s house. The sun had already set – it wasn’t completely dark yet, but it was close and there was less light by the second. We were sitting on the lawn because we loved watching the sky turn from day to night, just talking and giggling and carrying on as little girls do.

A truck drove up our street, slower than usual but not suspiciously slow. Still, I felt my gut sink for some reason I didn’t understand. A couple minutes later, it passed by again. And then again after another few minutes, though not quite as slow this time. I was 100% positive it was the same truck, so I watched it drive away and noticed it started slowing down. I told her to get up, and when the truck made another U-turn and started heading towards us again I told her to run and hide. I don’t know if she realized what she was hiding from, but we ended up splitting in two directions. She dove behind a bush, and I crouched behind an old car parked in their driveway. We could see each other, and I had a clear shot to the door if I needed to dart in to get a parent, but we heard the truck roll up and stop in front of her house. Someone got out of the truck and started calling for us, I honestly don’t remember what they were asking though. We just kept our eyes locked and tried to stay as still and quiet as possible. We probably should have screamed, but I think we were both too scared. The person eventually got in their car and took off. We stayed hidden for what felt like forever, eyes locked, until we finally felt safe enough to run inside.

I don’t know what would have happened if I didn’t notice something and we booked it, or if that person was actually dangerous or not, but I’m glad that I’ll never find out.” — itshannchii

Near miss

“Decided to have a look at a culvert (covered stream) that I hadn’t been down before. We weren’t expecting it to be much, so no safety call-out, weather check, or even bother to let anyone know where the entrance is

Get about 750metres in, and my buddy notices a load of water pouring in up ahead; we look at each other and go “we need to get out, now.”

In under five minutes, the water went from ankle deep and manageable to knee deep and almost pushing us over. We reached a section with some steps, a ladder, and a handrail (for inspection), and managed to push the lid off with the water getting deeper every minute.

If that ladder had been ten metres further, we might not have made it. If we’d have slipped? Dead.

When we got out, it was raining gently. We were soaking wet, and just looked at each other with that “oh fuck” look

A bit more above ground exploring, and we worked out that the culvert went under a local canal; if we’d have slipped, we’d have ended up in a sump under a canal, and likely never made it out. Nobody knew where we were, what was happening, or how to find us. In all likelihood, the only time they’d know where we died is when our corpses got spat out into the nearby river.” — araed

Bad feeling

“I was walking home from sixth form one day and saw a car following me along the street, I was about 17. Got a really bad feeling so I hopped on the next bus with the plan to change directions and head home at the bus depo down the road.

On the bus, I got a text from a guy who’d stalked me for years on and off, with a picture of my school taken just then and the names and addresses of two of my friends. I FREAKED. Finally told my parents what was happening, reported it to the police, he’d driven over a hundred miles to try and grab me and my friend and had just missed us cos I hopped on the bus and she had gone home early. He got 2 and a half years in prison suspended with orders not to contact any of the girls involved, immediately broke that order and got another 5 years on top. I’m really glad I got that bus!” — Hazie144

Almost robbed

“Lived in a rough place and have been robbed many times before. Usually a bunch of guys asking for spare change then threatening for your wallet.

Anyways. I came out of a club at 2am or later and waiting for a bus in a deserted area with a friend. See a bunch of dodgy looking guys you could tell were up to no good. I instantly get the feeling but rather than run and have them chase me. I walked straight to them with a bit of a crazed look and asked them for spare change. When they said no I insisted. They left us alone.

I’m not a big or threatening guy by any means. This was one of my proudest moments more than 20 years ago” — salchichoide

“Get the f*ck out of here”

“I was riding my bike during a huge storm when I was 10. There was this huge, recently built brick/concrete wall right beside the sidewalk where I was using as a “race track”.

I was having a good time and suddenly I felt that “get the fuck out of here”. Which I did.

The next morning as I passed by the place I was playing previously, the entire wall had collapsed!” — skirted_dork

Too casual

“A friend and I had just seen a midnight movie, it was about 2:30am when I pulled in to a gas station to grab a Yoo-Hoo. I grabbed the bottle, turned around, and saw 3 men enter the store together: one waited by the doors, one stood near the register “looking at” chips, and the third was crouched down with his back to the employee door so the cashier wouldn’t see him through the square window in the door.

They all look at me at once and then try to ignore me, acting like they’re just…..casually positioned around the cashier and door. I walk up, put my Yoo-Hoo on the counter, the cashier turns the scanner and basically tells me with his eyes, “You do it.” I ring myself up, drop money on the counter, and walk as normally as I could past the man by the door and out to my car at what seemed like the furthest pump from the store.

I sit down, throw my Yoo-Hoo at my buddy, and hit the emergency button in my car that calls 911. I connect with dispatch and report a possible robbery. A mile or two later I see a cop car flying down the street in the direction we just came.

I called non-emergency the next day to ask what happened, and they said the men fled after I left and the cashier told the police he knew he was about to get robbed too, and to thank me for calling the police. That felt good.

What didn’t feel good was my buddy, in all his nervousness about what was unfolding as he was listening to me recount everything to dispatch, thought I just gave him a random Yoo-Hoo and chugged that thing down like a starving infant with a bottle.

EDIT: lots of people asking what Yoo-Hoo is. It’s a drink in the US that tastes like watery chocolate milk. But shut up it’s delicious.

Also, people asking what kind of car I had with the emergency button: it was a 2002 Chevy, the service is called OnStar and came/comes standard on tons of GM cars. I currently drive a 2020 Subaru and it has the same thing, only it’s called StarLink.” — Comicspedia

We thought we were going to get taken

“I mean, it’s all speculation since we didn’t actually end up getting kidnapped.. but when I was 19 and travelling solo in Europe I met this Australian girl in Spain who was also around 18 and we went to Italy together. We are both short, petite girls and were very clearly in need of a place to stay.

We missed our first ferry out of Barcelona so we had to take the next one. When we arrived in Italy, our train was hours late and we didn’t get into Rome until around 1-2am. We navigated the sketchy streets by the Termini train station and finally found our hostel. The check-in lobby was in a small dingy room that appeared to be a closet. The man working reception looked us up and down and told us there was no room for us there anymore (since we were late) but suggested we stay in their sister hostel. Desperate, we agreed.

He took us downstairs back to the alleyway where we were greeted by a large man in dirty clothing. They spoke to each other in a language other than English/Italian and led us outside. We walked down a couple alleyways until we got to an unmarked door on the side of a building. One of the men made a phone call, again speaking in a different language. We found it odd since everyone could speak English but they chose to speak in a language we didn’t understand. A man cracked the door open just enough to poke his head outside, and upon seeing the other men fully opened the door and let us in.

We walked down the stairs into the sunken room which was lit by black lights. At this point it was me, my friend, and three large men. The “reception” was a dirty room containing a couch with some dirty sheets laid over it. They told us the rooms were in the basement and to follow them. We walked down a set of stairs: one man in front followed by my friend followed by another man behind her followed by myself and the last man behind me. We went down one flight of stairs to find that there was yet another flight of stairs going down to a closed door. At this point I lost it and my friend and I pushed past the men and scrambled back upstairs. The men kept shouting at us that the rooms were downstairs but the scenario seemed way too wild.

We eventually found an Australian couple on the street who brought us to their expensive hotel where we booked a room. The next day we searched the internet for the “sister hostel” they brought us to (can’t remember the name they gave us). We found the hostel online, but it was very clear that this wasn’t where they brought us. The hostel boasted beautiful views of the city (so clearly a few levels above ground), and was immaculate. We were definitely in some weird black-lit, dirty basement. We thought for sure that we were going to get kidnapped and sold into the sex trade that night.” — imastudentagain03

It’s always a truck

“A couple years ago, I was walking home from the bar at 1am. I’m a young woman in her 20s, so this was instantly stupid, but I wanted to save money avoiding an Uber, and was also drunk so I wasn’t thinking straight.

I’m walking down a main but dark street, and then a pickup truck driving by slows down next to me. Two men look at me and the passenger asks, “Hey, do you need a ride somewhere?” I lie and say no thanks because I’m expecting one in a moment. They said alright and drove off.

I watched them drive down the street and then, a ways down, I saw their brake lights light up. There was no stop sign or stoplight, so I just assumed the worst and thought, “I’ve got to get out of here.” I ran into a tiny parking lot to my right and hid behind an outdoor vending machine. Moments later, the two men pulled into the lot and circled it, clearly looking for me.

When they couldn’t find me, they drove away. I waited a few moments until I decided to call an Uber.” — purpleteapots