I almost got kidnapped
“When I was around 11 I was at softball practice and for whatever reason the practice ended early so I had to wait at the park for my grandpa to come and pick me up. I ended up having to wait alone for about 30 minutes because I didn’t have a cell phone to call and tell my grandpa that practice ended early.
I remember sitting on the swings when an adult man, in his 30s or 40s, came and sat down next to me. He asked if he knew me and I said no and he told me that I must just have “one of those pretty faces” that feel recognizable to anybody. I remember feeling happy about the compliment and I kept talking to him. Eventually, he told me that he had his car with him and that he could drive me home to my grandparents house so that they didn’t have to worry about picking me up and I wouldn’t have to wait any longer.
Being 11, I didn’t think anything of this and proceeded to get into this strangers car. Luckily, my grandpa showed up just in time and I remember seeing his car and jumping out to meet him. The stranger sped off without talking to my grandpa and that was the last I ever heard about it.
This is such a vivid memory for me and I often find myself thinking about what would have happened to me and what a different person I would be today if my grandpa hadn’t shown up when he did.” — maopi
They knew where the bodies were buried
“When I was 10 years old I lived in the middle of rural alabama.. we had some odd neighbors. Being curious kids, my friend and I followed my neighbor and his son and daughter one day when they left their house and walked into the woods. I was very familiar with the area because it was back when kids could roam free until the street lights came on. Anyway, we trailed them for about 2 miles, through the woods, across an old cemetery, and down a railroad. They stopped at a clearing beside the tracks and my friend and I hid opposite of them and watched…..
They started digging and kept pulling up bones and putting them in a bucket. We got scared and bolted. I immediately told my parents but they didn’t believe me.
I’m 32 and remember that day clearly.” — Chad003
I knew a killer
“Smoking a blunt with the fucker who had raped and murdered a friend of mine the previous evening. We were all hypothesizing what had happened while the psycho who had done it was casually trying to plant disinformation.” — Pkrudeboy
Obscene caller
“When I was in 3rd grade, I was home alone with my quadriplegic grandma from after school until my mom came home. One day the phone rings, and I answer it and an unfamiliar man’s voice says hey, did you just get home from school? I say yeah, who is this? Instead of answering me he started asking things like do you ever touch yourself? Do you like to look at girls? Being in 3rd grade of course I was like nope! and hung up pretty quick. I told my parents but nothing ever came of it. I still wonder to this day who it was, how they knew my name, and my whereabouts. This was back on a corded landline with no caller ID either.” — justonemorebyte
I saw them leading away another kid
“When I was 13, I was shopping in the downtown city and two guys in their early 20s asked for my help round the corner, claiming one of the guy’s girlfriends had said someone who looked like me had stolen something from her. Wanting to prove my innocence I followed them, proving my naivety instead.
Once we were away from crowds they produced knives and said I had to go with them in their car. I said they could have my money, bank cards etc but they weren’t interested. I don’t know what they wanted, but thank fuck they didn’t have a car and tried to abduct me in a taxi instead.
I told the driver the men were kidnapping me, and they had knives. I don’t know what sort of panic button track drivers have, but we all got out of the car and very quickly there were five or six other taxi drivers around us. The boys fled, one shouting “We’ll kill you!” over his shoulder.
I took the bus home, petrified, and swear I saw them leading another kid away. I told the police about it, and later heard a son of my mum’s friend had also been ‘got’ but escaped.
I didn’t go shopping in the city without an adult for at least ten more years.” — LittleSadRufus
Yoga creep
“When I was working at the first yoga studio I ever taught at I had a class that was at 730 in the evenings. The studio was in a strip center that wasn’t usually crowded and was a bit off the beaten path. I had a male student come in and he just seemed kinda off. But I know some people are just awkward so I tried to shrug it off. Well I only had one other student come to that class that night and once it was over he kept hanging around. I was the only one in the studio and I was sitting at the desk waiting for him to leave. He leaned over the desk and smiled at me and said “you have the most deliciously pale skin” he then said “it was a shame they let someone like me work alone in a studio at night”. My blood ran cold. He got WAY too close to me when he said those things. I was so grateful we had cameras in the studio even though it wouldn’t have done much if he tried to hurt me. I told him he needed to leave. I started carrying pepper spray after that. The worst part was he came by MULTIPLE times looking for me. He even left cards for me. I never really felt safe alone in the yoga studio by myself at night.” — annacat1331
I had a stalker
“I had a stalker in college. Had to move dorm rooms and building 4 times in the middle of the night. Friends would help me get to my dorm by pretending we were going to theirs and making sure no one was around when I’d go into mine. He found 2 of the dorms and left notes in my room. It’s been over 11 years and I live in a completely different state but every once in awhile I get the feeling I’m being watched and panic.” — RavenSkye86
I was almost snatched
“Pretty sure I almost got kidnapped when I was a kid. I was 10 years old walking home from school and an elderly couple driving by stopped and asked me for directions. They were looking for the street I was walking towards, so I pointed them in that direction. Even though my directions were very clear, both were acting confused and asked if I can get in the car and guide them there and then they would drive me home. I told them it was fine, my house was right here (I lied). They were pressuring/guilting me a lot and being TOO nice about wanting to drive me home. It gave me a really weird feeling in my stomach. So I pretended to walk towards a house that wasn’t mine and they drove off.” — ivantoldmeboutdis
Pedo priest
“I had a priest ask me if I touch myself while I was in the confessional I was (9f). I never went to confession again, instead have myself my own penance and lied about going for years. I told my mom as an adult. Too bad I didn’t say anything earlier, we had a priest who was accused of much wrongdoing and was moved out of the parish and went on to do it some more.” — wtafwereyouthinking
He thought he was alone
“I grew up in a decently rural area about 40 mins outside a city. One of my neighbors had to call the cops once bc someone was back on their property late at night and had started a fire. Cops show up and arrest a man who had murdered his gf and was trying to burn the body. Dumbass pulled off the road thinking he was in the middle of nowhere and was actually only like 50’ from the back porch of one house and in view of multiple. ” — thegoatisoldngnarly
A gut instinct to run
“I had a situation in a wooded area also. Was on a nature trail alone in a quieter, more residential area of my city. Saw through the trees what I thought was a trash bag hanging off a tree. Got a bit closer and realized it was a man in black jacket and ski mask. This was mid Fall season and not cold enough for that. He started to move in my direction.
I got that same feeling as you. You KNOW you have to bail right away. I did just that. Tore through some bushes onto an empty ballfield. Told a family entering the trail not to go in, then a parks dept worker. Not sure what happened after.
Im nearly 6 feet and over 200lbs and had no doubt I had to run like Usain Bolt out of there. That guy was not there to watch birds.” — TheBklynGuy
The Dark Forest Theory
“I’ve worked in a lot of remote forested areas, and the rule is to always be aware of your surroundings (as in, do not wear headphones) and do not approach anyone else, especially not someone who is obviously trying to stay hidden.” — WreckOfARo
I was glad I had a gun
“I was with my girlfriend hiking through shenandoah National Park in Virginia, US. I’m sure I’ll get a little crap for this, but after all the mass shootings we have had in the states I decided to get a permit to conceal carry my handgun, which I pretty much carry with me wherever I go with her. If she’s home alone I’ll leave it with her but given the gun problem here I’d rather have one and not need it than need it and not have one. Yes I’m aware of the irony in carrying a gun to fight the gun problem. On a completely unrelated note to the story, carrying one has actually made me much more level headed and avoiding confrontation as i realize how quickly a tiny dispute can turn fatal when someone is armed. But I digress.
We were pretty deep in, we had been hiking in for about 2 hours when we saw a small fire that had been stomped out very recently. We thought it was odd since we didn’t see anyone around but kept going. Shortly after I kept thinking I was seeing someone walking through the woods to the sides of us, but whenever I’d look i couldn’t see anyone. I chalked it up to seeing what I want to see, I do a lot of wildlife photography and I’m always looking for bears, foxes, owls, whatever. When you want to see one, everything looks like an animal.
Well I started hearing it too and I realized whatever it was, was trying to circle around us and come up behind. Every time we would stop and look, they would stop. Finally I gave the camera to my girlfriend, pulled out my handgun and told her to go back to back. We stood there for 5 minutes before we saw two guys emerge from behind a big tree and bolt down the trail in the opposite direction, one was holding a knife.
My girl hated the idea of me carrying until then. Now she completely gets it.” — Siriuxx
Peeping Tom
“My mum used to start at work at like 3AM and she was up at about 2-230 having her coffee, I heard her up and went to see her. She joked that she heard something outside and me being a bit silly opened the blinds up wide as a joke and there was a guy just standing there staring into the lounge room.
That was creepy enough as it is, but what sticks with me is the fact he didn’t run or really react for what felt an eternity. While I ran to get my old man and brother apparently he just stood there and then slowly walked off.” — PoorTank
Chased
“I was followed home once (I was 23 at the time, I’m female and I lived a 5 minute walk to a busy bar area), I noticed him following me and I went to a full out run to get into my building. The guy also ran, but luckily by the time he got to the entrance to my building the glass sliding door had shut (automatic buzz door). The absolutely terrifying part was that as I stood there behind the glass catching my breath he just stood there staring at me. Didn’t walk away or anything. What in the hell was he planning to do if he caught me? Still gives me the shakes 5 years later.” — katemakesthings
Creepy bus driver
“When I was in middle school, my girlfriends and I rode the bus home most days. The bus driver was this older guy who was super nice & fun and would allow us to play whatever music station we wanted, and he would drop us off at home last so we could dance around on the bus. I remember he would let us stand at the front of the bus while he drove and he would purposely swerve to make us fall on top of him. I remember thinking it was weird, but it wasn’t until I got older that I realized how wrong that all was.
I decided to google his name (I’m now in my 30’s) and found that he is a convicted sex offender and is currently incarcerated. Scary part was when i think back, he obviously knew where I lived, and I remember there were several times when he’d drive past my house on the days I wouldn’t ride with him. Keep in mind driving past my house was out of the way of his normal route, so it was intentional.” — kelsaylor
My friend wouldn’t believe me
“When I was little I was sleeping over at my friend’s house. I woke up in the middle of the night to use the bathroom (dark/far end of the hallway, away from her room). When I stepped out of the bathroom, her older brother was standing outside the door, in the dark. He never said a word, just walked up to me silently and put his hands around my neck.
Someone stirred and he dropped his hands. I immediately called my mom and left without even saying anything. Friend never believed me, and I never went back.” — silentdream626
Creepy sleepover
“Three friends were sleeping over at another friend’s house. Two of us were in one room and he was in his own. We both woke up to the door conjoining the rooms creaking open and we saw him pointing a bow and an arrow at us. Didn’t say anything, he just left after a few seconds. We just went back to sleep for some reason but he denied it in the morning when we confronted him. No more sleepovers with him after.” — nettletondan
Man in the woods
“I used to spend a lot of time walking through the woods/fields by my mums house, and noticed a path one day that I hadn’t seen before. I was listening to music following down this path as the trees around became more dense, you could tell it wasn’t often people walked down there anymore I remember it being more of mud/gravel trail.
At this point I was deep in the woods, hadn’t seen another person for a long time and shaded by the leaves of the trees. I don’t know what made me notice at first but I think I smelt the smoke. I stopped on the path, and maybe 5 metres away to my left in the trees was a small fire that had obviously been stamped out in a hurry, still burning embers and smoke so it had been done only a few moments before. Cue me realising there wasn’t anyone around that I’d seen, and that whoever had stamped out the fire was hiding in the trees somewhere. I have never felt a gut feeling to run like I did in that moment , straight back the way I came and did not look behind me until I was back into the main woodland with people around. Will never know if I was paranoid and it was nothing, or if I avoided something bad that day.” — rchristinatt
Child snatchers
“A friend and I were breaking glass bottles at the boat ramp near my house, this guy pulls up and we hid in the bushes. We were 11yo, and this guy tells us to come out because “I’m a police officer.” He kept yelling for us to come out, the bushes were really thick and short, like a tunnel, and he couldn’t get to us. I haf seen his truck there before, and I’m 80% sure he wouldn’t have abducted us, but you never know. A self defense instructor once told me that if you get into a car, your chances of surviving an attack go down by 75%.” — bobs_colorline
Chased in broad daylight
“When I was about 13, my self and a friend were walking to a middle school dance. I lived right across the street from the school. From my house there was about a 50m sidewalk to it from the main road. Anyways, as were standing at the traffic light, waiting for our turn, I noticed a man in a van and a person in another car yelling at each other. I’m 100% sure I saw the man in the van wave a gun at the person. So he pulls up to the light and is waiting. He calls to me and my friend, says he needs directions. Who tf ask 13 year olds for directions?
I pull my friends arm and tell her we need to leave. We start walking back towards my house away from the guy and he got out! Left the van right there at the light. My friend and I take off, full tilt. Make it half way down the path before ducking into some side bushes. Were sitting there with our hands pressed over our mouths while trying to be as still and small as possible. I’m trembling and can hear my heart pounding in my ear.
The man stands at the end of the walk way staring down towards my house. Luckily there’s quite a few houses along the block, so it would have been impossible to tell which one we ducked into.
Clear as day, in his hand at his hip is a gun.
He finally leaves and my friend and I run back to my house to call my mom and the cops.
I refused to walk to school after that.” — klpcap
Creepy caller
“When I was about 16 I had a call from ‘the college’ to ask a few questions before I start. Confirm name etc. then started to ask my bra size, if I was a virgin. I actually answered the questions! I remember telling a girl after I started and she’d had the same phone call.” — Sezyluv85
Well this is extremely not funny
“I had something kinda not similar happen to me when I was little. My neighbor/friend was over and we were both like 7 or 8. My sister was across the street with my neighbor’s mom. It was just the two of us when the house phone rang so I picked it up. The person said my name and told me he was the devil and that he knew I had been bad. I freaked out and hung up.
The devil called back and said he knew I was alone in the house and that we weren’t safe. Horrified, I grabbed my friend and ran screaming across the street to safety. When we got there, the devil was waiting for us.
The person calling was my sister and my neighbor’s mom who thought it would be funny to prank call us.” — nancylikestoreddit
Stranger in the basement
“Someone broke into my house while I was home alone when I was 19. I found them hiding behind this 7 foot tall toolbox my dad had in the basement. I was about 5 feet away and saw their hands. I told them I was going to let them leave out the back door but I was calling the cops. I locked the basement door and ran upstairs, watched them run down the street with their shirt pulled up over their head.” — eatMYcookieCRUMBS
Creeper at the mall
“When I was 13 I was in a bookstore and a grown-ass man approached me in the manga section and started asking me about my love life, if I had a girlfriend, etc. I left and watched the escalator from outside to make sure I wasn’t followed. Next thing I know he’s standing next to me and asks me to help him move a couch into his van. I kindly say fuck no and he jogs across the street and out of sight. I go inside and tell an adult who responds… yeah, they’ve been getting complaints like that.” — Fun-Put-9104
Fake firemen
“When I was around 13/14 I was home alone, upstairs, when I heard somebody busting open the kitchen door yelling “FIRE FIRE GET OUT”. I didn’t smell anything nor did I think that there was that could ignite a fire (I had ordered take out and all the things that could set a fire were off), so I decided not to get out, and called 911 explaining everything. The police came, and found muddy footprints in the kitchen, along with the kitchen door busted.” — butter-toast-
Alien encounter
“I was camping in the Simpson desert on a multi day trip. It was a very remote location, we hadn’t planned on stopping at this point but it was getting late and one of the trailers had blown a tyre so we decided to repair it and then call it a day. Being so remote there aren’t any signs for anything, but according to our map the land we were on was military, probably for training and stuff. We didn’t think much of it at the time, but I dare say we shouldn’t have been there. Anyways it did add to the eerie, remote and desolate feeling in the area. I remember after dinner we were all star gazing, there were so many meteorites, and satellites whizzing around, it was fantastic. I remember watching one satellite move, very slowly, much slower than the rest. Then I noticed another, not far from it moving very slowly in the same direction. I pointed it out to the group and we were all watching these two slow satellites almost follow each other. Then the first one just made this hard right turn, and we were all like WTH. Then the one behind it did the same thing. And they continued to follow each other before both turning again. It really fucked with me, I couldn’t explain it at the time. And it was so bizarre, I have no idea what it was. I’m not one to put much heed into conspiracies or aliens or the like, but it fucked with me for sure.
The only logical conclusion I can come to (and it does help me sleep a little better at night) is that they were geostationary satellites changing altitudes/orbits? But I’m no space expert, that’s the best I have come up with…… I have no clue what I saw that night.” — Empty-Repair-5171
Real life boogey men
“The guy that assaulted me told the cops he had the intention of killing me. But my dog made him rush.
This dude was someone I thought of as a close friend.” — hex_the_nitezombii
I was 14
“Yuck!! I had one of my dads friends message me on facebook (I was 14f) telling me how he can’t stop thinking about me and that he wants to hug me and feel my ‘boobies’ against his chest. He worked for my uncle and I told my dad asap. That man was fired instantly. I feel bad for his wife and children, wish I could find them and tell them.” — SellyBear32
White van
“When I was a child I was playing out in the front yard of my house when a white van pulled up on the road, the sliding door opened and a guy in his early 20’s waved at me to go over to him.
Luckily I was a shy kid and got scared and ran inside and told my parents about a strange man in a van calling me over. My parents raced outside but the van was gone by then and it is was only as an adult I think back and I realize what a serious situation that was, I could have been abducted that day and worse.” — Ken_Oath_Kuntz
Bad van
“I was walking to school one day like usual and this van passed me just as I got to the end of my driveway and was about to step on to the road to cross it. I remember two guys in front who were both staring at me, a white van with a blue stripe that ran horizontally around the middle of it, but then they turned the corner and sped off down the road.
I was a little unnerved, but crossed the street and went down the same road they’d sped off down. I saw them further down, turning the corner up ahead at what was kind of a crossroad.
A few minutes later the van was behind me, and slowing down to match my pace. They’d circled the entire block just to get behind me. I didn’t even think, just reacted on pure instinct and ran for my mates house a few doors down, praying they hadn’t left for school yet. I can still remember running down their driveway and just body-slamming the back of their car in absolute fear. Luckily they hadn’t started reversing yet.
They drove me to school, cops got called as did my mum, and the cops left thinking I was just overly hysterical and that they probably weren’t “after me”, however not even a week later a friend of mine was nearly grabbed from her letterbox two streets away by a van matching the exact same description.
For some reason, to this day, no one believes that I was possibly about to be kidnapped despite believing my friends story, neither of us had adults who saw the van, both of us ran for a trusted adult, yet when she reported it to the cops they put an alert out.
Occasionally I’ll see a van with that exact marking, the same blue stripe, and have to remind myself that it was nearly 30 years ago this happened.” — ngatiara
Neighbor takes photos of me
“My dad told me to rake some leaves in our front yard when I was like 12. I ended up working for a few minutes then felt eyes on me (you know the feeling). I turned around and my neighbor across the street was taking pictures of me so obviously. Right when he saw me he put his phone down and turned around. I immediately ran inside and told my family- none of them believed me.
I’m 18 now and he’s still my neighbor and I have been creeped out ever since. I have to close my window blinds all the time still because I always feel like he’s watching me.” — milkysalami
“He doesn’t want us to sell”
“When we were house shopping we went to this big house surrounded by pretty dense landscaping in the front. Bushes mid-thigh and such. We met our realtor and walked through the house for a solid hour or so then met on the front porch and talked a bit about what we liked, etc. We had parked near some bushes and the realtor (a petite female) had parked in the driveway.
My husband and I got back in the car and continued to chat while the realtor left. Suddenly about 6 feet away from the passenger door, a man stood up out of the bushes and walked into the house. He didn’t look at us or give any indication he saw us.
We called the realtor who in turn called the owners who said it was their son and “he doesn’t really want us to sell….” We ended up not buying that house and it went off the market shortly after. I still wonder what the hell he was doing, hiding in the bushes and I’m so glad the realtor had left before us!” — twomangocats
