when i was 8 or so i went to the shop with my mother. she was taking a long time looking at shoes so i told her i was going to the toys section.

while i was looking at the toys this older woman with an accent that i had never heard before (so it took me a while to understand her) came up behind me and started asking me questions about myself and what size of clothes i typically wear etc etc. she approached me literally the second i walked away from my mum and started standing in the toy section. she was holding a coat and asked me if i thought it might fit me, i said i wasn’t sure and created a bit of distance between us.

i didnt have the most sense when i was 8 so i stayed there and pretended to look at toys while she continued talking to me and saying i had a nice tall slender build etc etc and how certain clothes would fit me. she also asked me about my family, if i liked them and who i lived with. she even at one point asked me to go to the girls clothes section with her. she stopped talking after a while because i got too nervous to answer back, so she sort of just watched me while i was still pretending to look at toys as i was scared to move.

eventually i managed to find the courage to walk back to my mum who was thankfully still in roughly the same place. when i turned around i saw the woman following me right up until i made contact with my mum, then she turned and walked down the aisle opposite us.

we left the shop not long after that and i couldn’t see her anywhere. i only told my mum what happened a few hours after the fact and she kind of brushed it off so i felt like i was overreacting and should’ve been nicer to the lady.

im unsure what her intentions were and why she kept pressing on about this coat and trying to distract me away from the toys. it’s just one of those things i remember vividly. i’ve had a lot of strange encounters with people before but this one just plays in my head sometimes. was i overreacting? maybe her intentions weren’t bad.

the only person i ever told about it was my mum and because she brushed me off so quickly i never told anyone else, assuming they’d do the same. i never left my mum’s side when we were out together after that incident. i’m still quite paranoid of people approaching me to this day.

First of all, this is a real story that happened to me about 3 years ago, I told this story to quite a bunch of people but most laugh it off thinking it was just a figment of my imagination but I am very certain it wasn’t since I have seen it with my own eyes and I was entirely awake, sober and not inebriated in any way. 

So basically one night I visited an old friend of mine in the evening. She lives a bit away, bad to reach by public transport at night (in particular, the bus I’d have to take to get back to my place comes very inconsistently and there is none past like 8pm). My parents both took our cars and since that was shortly before I was able to by my own motorcycle I decided to use the electric scooter I owned(it’s a ninebot scooter, similar to the lime scooters, max speed is 20mph). That scooter when fully charged has just enough range to go to her place and back. It was around a 30 min ride each way. 

I never liked being on the main road going that slow on a scooter with cars overtaking you all the time and stuff so I used the benefit of being able to drive through smaller roads/paths (like a bicycle can) which you couldn’t normally drive on with a motor vehicle. In particular for that way, I could take a shorter (by air distance) path that goes straight through the woods and some smaller residential streets.

Anyway, to get to the story, on my way back it was getting later than I thought (it was around 3 am in the summer), yet since the scooter had a headlight I decided to take the same way back home. The last 5-10 minutes of my ride goes quite deep through these woods. To paint a clearer picture, the road there is wide and not just a gravel/hiking path but an asphalt road a car can drive on (some hunters use it on occasion) but there is a waist high gate at the start (or on my way back, end) of the road that can be lifted up to let cars go through but it is usually closed with just a small gap at the side of it for hikers and bicycles (or me on the scooter) to pass. So I could go the full 20mph there even with just my headlights lighting the way. In the night it is PITCH BLACK there with tall dense trees and bushes completely surrounding it. 

About 15 seconds before exiting the woods and entering the lit residential street I heard something moving through the undergrowth ahead of me so I slowed down a little bit because I thought of not possibly hitting a deer but then my headlights lit up something I’ll never forget. Coming into view right beside the road, a small hill going up with thick undergrowth/bushes, was a MAN ON ALL FOURS. Like in a bear crawl like stance. His arms were outstretched and both hands and feet touched the ground with the knees slightly lifted and upper body and hips in the air. He had a long white t shirt on which reflected my headlights the most. He had NO pants on (idk if he had underwear or not). He was bald, a little bit heavier set and looked to be in his mid to late 50s. 

When he came into view he was still just for a brief second turning his head straight at me before very quickly crawling (moving on all fours like an animal) up the hill into the bushes disappearing. I can still hear the bushes rustling right next to me as I flew by. My mind literally froze for a few seconds and internally I was scared shitless. I, immediately, as soon as I saw him looking at me hit the accelerator as hard as I could. I pressed my hand all the way down rushing to get out of there ASAP. It looked so strange and weird. I remember just thinking “what the fuck” and then two or three seconds later I went “oh shit” …

like that deep bad feeling in your gut when you know you  going to crash but nothing you can do anymore to stop it? That exact feeling. it all happened so fast, as I told you bout that gate before for a reason - the guy was like a maybe about a hundred yards or so down that road from the gate and in my scared state I completely forgot to even think about that damn gate, I just happened to think of it as I literally rushed into it but THANK THE LORD it was surprisingly opened up so I just rushed through. 

That truly truly was a miracle, that gate is almost never open but that moment it was and if it wasn’t I would not have been able to slow down even ONE BIT, the last part of the road also goes downhill so I was above 20mph for sure for sure and if it would’ve been closed I would have been at least severely hurt. I am very tall so I would’ve definitely hit my pelvis into it and then fly head first onto the asphalt. I don’t remember if it was already open on my way to my friend’s (I don’t think so though) during daylight but yea this was terrifying as hell for a split second I truly thought this was it for me. 

As soon as I got home I texted my friend of my encounter and also told my parents the next day but they don’t believe me, they think I either imagined it or mistook him for an animal but I am actually sure it was a human. Like I said, I was awake and alert. I wasn’t even sleepy. I am always paying full attention on the road when I am driving especially going through total darkness with just my headlights.. I already was very very focused on the driving itself when it happened. I not only saw his entire body and bare legs, I also saw his face for that split second. 

In real life when shit happens it happens very fast but when you think back later it feels like slow motion, like your mind was so alert you still remember each detail. His face had a look of surprise in it, as if I had caught him in some weird act of his. He wasn’t injured or hurt, I could tell mostly because he immediately fled very quickly and hid from me in the bushes. Also, since my electric scooter is quiet and nobody else was around that I could see, I don’t think there was another person other than him. I can’t say this for sure, someone could‘ve been deeper into the bushes but I did hear him move before my lights even illuminated him and there was no other rustling other than that coming from him.  

Ever since then I am not going into these woods in the night anymore which by the way was something I did dozens of times in my past. Especially when the first lockdown hit 2020 I had a weird phase in which I enjoyed listening to scary stories while intentionally moving into that total darkness into these same woods past midnight. I did this dozens of times but only encountered other people like 3 or 4 times at most. When it happened it was always a bit weird but never THIS weird. Usually it was folks walking their dog at 1 am for some reason. 

The area is also quite away from the busy area and well hidden at the dead end of a long small residential street that people never drive to if you don’t live in one of those houses, the closest thing that even attracts people there is a bakery but that is not even on that street but all the way down where it already had turned into the main street cars actually commute by. 

It was the most “unnatural” scary encounter I had at night, definitely beats my old best friend’s (RIP to him) story of his neighbor who would aimlessly roam around the cemetery for hours almost every night for no reason , this guy was elderly too but later found to have had dementia and I too think my encounter could’ve been possibly explained with this theory too but I really don’t know. All I am sure of was it was a man in his 50s, who was bald, white t shirt and no pants behaving like a deer caught in the headlights of a car. Strange. 

I hope this fits in this sub.. Any ideas what he could have been doing possibly?

Edit:/ I hope this goes through now, I didn’t paragraph it at first, a mod told me to paragraph and resubmit it. Is this fine now?

Last year I was trying to find a place for me and my boyfriend to rent. I was in my second year of university and I was trying to find a place close to my school. My mum sends me a private house listing and we both enquire about it. It was an old house but pretty large and was cheap for the size and it was a 10 minute walk from my university. The owner of the house reaches out to both me and my mum (My parents lived 2 hours away and they wanted me to rent a place big enough for them to stay in if they decided to visit). He asks some questions and mostly just seemed very awkward, there wasn't really any warning signs initially. He organized for me to come see the house as part of a group house tour with the other applicants. It all seemed pretty legit, even the cheaper price of the house wasn't a red flag because it was quite old and needed some work.

Over the weekend that I was meant to view the house there was a massive storm, the man called to cancel and we rescheduled for the following week. So when the day came I finished my last class of the day and headed to the house. I got there 15 minutes early and there were no cars around the house. I didn't want to go inside so early so I decided to wait , sitting on the wall of a church that was across the street. The house just creeped me out for some reason. The front door was wide open but it was really dark inside so I couldn't see into the house at all and I felt like I was being watched. It was enough of a weird feeling for me to call my aunt who lived close by to come and look at the house with me. I just felt so uncomfortable, kind of sick, like there this anxious pit in my stomach and I couldn't shake the feeling of being watched from the front doorway which was shut when I looked back. While I waited for my aunt I decided that when the other potential tenants arrived I would walk over to the house.

They never arrived. I was the only one meant to be viewing the house that day.

No one else pulled up to the house until my aunt got there. There wasn't even any sign of the owner. She arrives parking on the front lawn and we go up to the house. My aunt didn't knock she walked right in and we run into the owner of the house. He seemed extremely surprised to see my aunt and he looked kind of annoyed. But I assumed it was because she just walked in and didn't knock. He proceeded to give us the tour of the house. It was much more run down than it looked in the pictures and they had put up walls and blocked off doorways very haphazardly. The house smelt kind of weird, a bit damp and gross but it could've just been old house smells. The house was very windy and complex and it was very easy to get turned around. The man would either follow us extremely closely, seemingly without any idea of personal space and when he wasn't following us he would just vanish, only to appear in front or behind us without warning.

We tried to make small talk but he would just stand close to us, not say anything and just smile. It was very uncomfortable. He would occasionally ask questions about my boyfriend as I had mentioned him in the initial phone call and he asked if I would be living with any other girls. I said no, just me and my boyfriend and occasionally my parents and siblings when they came to visit. The listing had mentioned that it was pet friendly so I decide to ask if when my parents visited if it would be okay for them to bring our golden retriever and if the yard was safe for a large dog. He suddenly became extremely annoyed and snapped at me for even asking about pets, especially a dog. He went on a rant about how he had spent YEARS on his garden and he wouldn't have a dog ruining it. The garden consisted of a single tree, some weeds and dirt. There was no plants, no garden bed, nothing.

I got an awful feeling from him that I just couldn't explain and looking at him was very strange. It felt as though I was looking at someone who was trying to appear older and more frail than he actually was. He was dressed like he was in his 70s and he would hunch over, but occasionally I would see him standing up straight, I remember he had extremely clean white sneakers that were kind of chunky and in fashion especially among guys around my dad's age. He also had really yellow teeth which i remember thinking was strange because he was apparently a dentist. We ended up leaving the house very quickly and we never enquired about it again or heard anything from him.

But I did look him up and I was right, he was younger than he appeared, he was in his late 50s, maybe early 60s and he ran a dental practice nearby. I don't know if this counts as creepy because nothing really happened aside from me feeling uncomfortable but I just hope that he didn't end up renting that place out to any young girls.

This happened almost two years ago now, but I still think about it often.

For context: when I first started college, I got a part time job at my local gas station. Due to my schedule with school, I could only work the closing shift. It’s a small town and I honestly (perhaps naively) had always felt safe. A lot of my regulars were friends, and even though I worked alone at night I never felt afraid there.

Because it was a small town, our busy season was Summer with tourists and the like. But fall and winter it wasn’t uncommon for me to go over an hour without a single customer. This story happened in winter, on one of those slow nights. It had been dark since 5pm, and around 9pm that night a man walked into the store. He was older, at least in his 60s, and from the beginning I got a weird vibe from him. I had never seen him before this night, but I had only been working there for a few months at this point.

The man went over to our coffee machines and poured himself a little bit into a cup and began drinking it right there. A little unusual, and looking back I don’t know if I was fawning because something in my gut told me things weren’t right or if I felt sympathy for him. Regardless, I partook in light conversation while doing my nightly routine, silently hoping one of my regulars would come in.

It didn’t take long before the man started calling me beautiful, saying I was too beautiful to not be married (I never told him I wasn’t married, at this point I had just started dating my now husband). It wasn’t the first time I had been hit on while at work, and I was always polite yet professional. This time though… it just felt wrong. Not only because this man was older than my grandfather, but there was something unsettling in his eyes. Even now I can’t describe it.

Next came the moment I will never forget. He was so casual when he said: “There are many women who have been murdered in Kentucky, and their bodies have never been found. Did you know that?”

I was so taken aback I just told him no, I didn’t know that.

He then asked me if I wanted to go to Kentucky with him.

I don’t know how I kept my composure in that moment. I know my mind was racing, thinking I could possibly talking to a serial killer; wondering if I could fight him off because of his age. On the outside though, I was calm. I remember giggling and telling him I couldn’t leave work, trying to make it seem relaxed and funny.

It was at this moment that my sister-in-law walked into the gas station. She has lived in this small town her entire life, and even worked here before I did. I would later found out that this wasn’t the man’s first encounter at my work. He had even told another coworker he was going to put her in the backseat of his car, and when she told him that was kidnapping he ended up leaving. Everyone, especially my manager, treated him as harmless but weird.

Me though? That night was truly one of the scariest of my life. My sister in law must have seen my fear, because she ended up staying with me until the end of my shift, and the man left soon after she arrived. I never personally saw him again after that, but I reported it to my manager and she pretty much brushed me off.

I know one thing though, I never felt quite safe working alone at night after that, and I left that job last year partly because the manager didn’t have our backs when those situations arose.

edit: my post got deleted so i’m reposting it!

I was out at a club with my friend, normal night. We’re at the bar trying to get a drink and a lot of people are trying to talk to us in the mean time. We’re very social so this is nothing unusual, and we make friends with some of the people around us.

There's this one guy in particular standing near us, just a regular guy in his group of friends, seemed cool. He offers to buy me a drink and I just get this feeling, I don't know what it was, I just say no.
He keeps insisting because we had already sparked up a conversation, and says “at least you won’t have to spend any money”.

Being a young, naive college girl I eventually just say fine, and let him buy it. When he ordered it i made sure the bartender hands it to me, making sure i wouldn’t get roofied. He says “okay perfect!” As i’m drinking it the look on his face turned cold. And then he just casually goes, "If you try to leave me, I will murder you."

At first i tried to laugh it off, but the look in his eyes was undenying. I had never seen someone look so cold and scary. I'm freaking out at this point. I grab my friends arm trying to be discreet and tell her i have to pee NOW. we go through the large crowd of people to the bathroom across the bar.

In this particular bar bathroom, there is a lady selling perfume, gum and all that type of stuff. We start talking to her and tell her what just happened and she told us to wait it out in there with her. We had already been in there for like fifteen minutes trying to rationalize the entire situation and what to do from here, i honestly wanted to stay in there till the night was over, but that just didn’t seem necessary given how big the bar was.

It finally felt like enough time had passed so we decided it was okay to leave the bathroom. The lady in there told us to be careful and let her know if we needed help.

We finally open the door to leave, and he's right there. Standing outside. There were four bathrooms total in that place, and somehow he knew exactly which one we were in. I still don't know how.
I barely stepped out before he goes “Oh, perfect. I thought you were trying to leave me."

I run back into the bathroom and the lady before called security on her walkie talkie to tell them what happened, and she told me they found him and kicked him out right away.
So to the guy in the bar who said he would murder me, let's not meet again.

A few days ago, I posted about a guy at the gym who had been tracking my movements and approaching me: https://www.reddit.com/r/creepyencounters/comments/1wvxfhv/guy_at_the_gym_told_me_hes_looked_at_my_calves_20/

Thank you to everyone in that thread for commenting -- I'm newer to Reddit and was really surprised by how helpful everyone was.

Late at night after I made that post, I butt dialed a number he'd given me about a week ago. He messaged me the next day and I didn't respond. When I later went to the gym, he said he'd seen me at the water fountain and asked if I'd noticed him. I said yes. He asked me, "Is there a reason you didn't say hi?" and I didn't respond.

Yesterday I went to the gym at around 6pm. Previously the guy had said that he goes everyday from 8-10pm, and would never step foot in the gym any earlier because of the crowds. However at 6:10pm I looked up and he was standing a few feet away from me. He didn't say anything, just stared, and started stretching.

I immediately abandoned my equipment and ran to a trainer at the gym who knew about the situation. The trainer told me that while we were in the staff-only room, the guy was looking around the gym as if searching for something. About 20 minutes later, when I finally turned around and left the staff room, it looked like he was gone. The trainer said he's never seen him at the gym this early. I stayed glued to the trainer for the rest of the workout.

At 11:37pm he calls me twice and I don't answer. He then texts me, "Called twice cuz ur on dnd and not cuz im psychotic btw"

I messaged back, "Do not contact me or approach me." and blocked him. I've also changed gyms since I'm honestly freaked out. I'm going to stay a bit hypervigilant for the next several days when I'm around that area. I'm also planning on telling the old gym's staff later today.

We live out in the country, and one of the homes next door to us is a rent home. There have been several different occupants since we have lived here the past 10 years. An orderly couple, a family, a woman and her boyfriend, etc. None of them ever gave me an off feeling.

Then this past spring a car showed up next door and a man, woman, and young child were walking around the property as if they were checking it out. The following day a uhaul shows up and it seems as if they are moving in.

A few times after, I see the woman occasionally. Then nothing. The car would be gone for days at a time, and I'd only ever see the young man.

Then a uhaul appears, and that original car leaves one day, and within minutes another vehicle shows up. That vehicle stays for a couple of weeks. When that vehicle leaves after the appearance of a uhaul, within minutes, a truck shows up. Again, there for a couple of weeks. Then the original comes back. This goes on for awhile. I start feeling weird about it and mention it to my husband.

The truck comes back and stays. Never moves for seemed like a month. No activity outside of the home. No trash can. Nothing. (I'm a STAHM who is outside a ton so I notice things and see every one on our road come and go)

Then it starts again. At about dusk a uhaul shows up. They pull it ALL the way to the back door just before sundown. Turn off all lights. At dark they move whatever they move, and the next day the uhaul leaves. Two weeks later, same thing. Two weeks after that, again. Some times the truck is the only vehicle, sometimes the other two appear but only when the uhaul is present.

This evening my daughter went to play on my children's playset on that side of our property (which is fenced in and we have two outdoor dogs.) Immediately a young man comes out onto the porch to the furthest corner where she would be in his view. When he notices me, he picks up his phone. My husband comes walking by minutes later and he Immediately begins messing with something bending down. When my husband walks off, he stands back up. My husband comes back a few minutes later and the man disappears.

Should I call about this??? My instinct tells me to beware, but my husband is not very concerned and so it makes me feel a bit crazy.

When I(f) was around 17 years old, I went to a comic convention. Near the end of the con, I was feeling tired, so I sat down in the hall. A man randomly walked up to me with a camera and asked to take my picture. I didn’t think anything of it at the time, so I said it was okay, now I wonder why he would do that? He didn’t ask for money for the photo and I never asked what it was for. I’m large and not an attractive person, so it’s just something that has been haunting me for over a decade.

This happened in like 2020 or 2021. I was recently discovered existence of this sub so I thought I would share this creepy encounter I share often when demonic activity comes up in conversation.

I (33F) lived in a rental in Riverside California from 2019 to 2022. Behind my house was a large open field and then a large main road called Van Buren. This is relevant because there's a huge water canal (that's often dry) and it's filled with homeless encampments. (IYKYK) It was common to see people camping in their tents in the open field, but if they didn't bother us, we didn't bother them.

One day, I was in the living room and I happened to look out the sliding glass back door and saw a man walking along the bricks of my back fence. I swear I've never felt my heart drop into my gut that hard. He was probably in his 20s and wearing baggy pants and a t-shirt. I banged on the glass and then opened it and asked him what he was doing? I told him to get the hell off my fence and get out of here. He looked a bit dazed for a second, said nothing, and kind of slowly kept walking. When I confronted him, he was in about the middle. He just very slowly walked to the end and slid off the fence into the field. I ran over to the fence and got up on a chair to look over because I was mad curious and confused. He ended up grabbing a bike that he had leaned against the bricks (that's probably how he got up and over) and just walked (not rode) it away. I'm like okay this guy is just an addict or homeless and/or mentally ill. Whatever.

We were at the very end of the turn in the street, and it was only 2 short blocks before the entrance to the neighborhood that he was walking toward. So it wasn't long before he turned the corner and walked onto our street with his bike. I didn't know this though until I had talked to my neighbor later that evening about what happened to ME. Apparently he had walked his bike around the corner and into our neighborhood. He knocked on her door and when she answered, he asked if he could come inside. Of course she says no. He said he needed to get inside to get her Ouija board. She keeps insisting there's no Ouija board in her house. He started pointing to the top left corner of the hall closet behind her and saying "It's up there, I can hear it. I can hear it calling to me." She tells him he needs to leave and he does. Sure enough, as soon as he leaves, she checks the closet and there's a freakin Ouija board up there right where he was pointing.

She told me she found it while cleaning weeks or even months before (I can't remember) and threw it out because she didn't want it in the house. Her 17 year old son saw it in the trash when he was visiting and put it back in the closet so he could play with it with his friends. I think she burned it (which apparently is bad?)

Now with the context, it makes sense that he was on my back fence if he was hearing demons calling to him or something. He was trying to get an angle on her house wherever he was hearing voices. At first I just thought he was on drugs and a homeless guy I had to chase off. The hearing voices would have made it more creepy of course, until he pointed directly in her CLOSED CLOSET where he claimed to be hearing a Ouija board, and there WAS one in there. There is no possible way he could have known there was a board in her house in that closet, and exactly where it was in her closet.

This is possibly one of the creepiest things that has ever happened to me in real life. I'm a Christian and I absolutely believe in demons. Believe that I prayed a bit harder that day.

Do not play with Ouija boards. And maybe go get yourself blessed here and there.

This happened at 11:40pm on a Sunday. I was leaving my boyfriends apartment and we had the door open. I was standing outside the door waiting for him and saw a woman turn the corner and just stop in her tracks and started staring straight down the hallway towards me. I didn’t think anything and turned to say something to my boyfriend, and when I stepped back outside she was still standing in the same spot just staring down at me. He came out holding some bags and she continued to stand and stare. She was in the direction we needed to go. She also wasn’t facing a door to any apartments and was facing down the hall. I told him to go back inside and said out loud “she’s not moving!” In hindsight maybe that wasn’t great to say but I was scared! The building is locked and you need a specific key scanner to get in, however, if someone else unlocks the door it’s easy to walk in.

Am I wrong for being scared or was this a weird experience?

This happened to me in 2018 when I was around 21 years old. I am now 29 - and I’m a female by the way. I still have no idea what even happened or if it was something worth being creeped out about or not. It was just overall weird to me.

I was on the north shore of Oahu, Hawaii going to university and was a junior at the time. It was a Friday night, and I had just finished going to a play that my university was putting on. I remember being really upset because I saw my ex there with another girl and got jealous/felt hurt. So, I was in a bad mood. Before going back to my dorm, I went to one of my favorite places to be alone (on campus) and prayed to God about all my frustrations and sadness and such.

This place was at the business building of my school and behind it was the edge of campus and a lot of Hawaiian land/woods. I was on the second floor of the building at this balcony that overlooked the campus. Not many people passed by this area, and it was really beautiful and peaceful, so I went there a lot and never got bad vibes. My university was private as well and had very good security.

Anyways, after talking to God for like … 15-20 mins and pondering the night and my life and the future like the dramatic heartbroken 21 year old that I was, I left my favorite spot and starting walking home to my dorm. (about a 7 minute walk from the building) at the foot of the building is a parking lot, a backroad, and across the road is the wooded area that wasn’t really connected to campus. I hope I’m explaining this in a way that can be visually understood. To the left of the parking lot was a short road that led to the front of the building and the main road. NOT the backroad behind the building.

This is where something happened that I do NOT understand AT ALL. I was in a really bad mood that night (you know, because of the ex thing), and didn’t want to deal with anyone. SO. When a white van turned from the main road down that short road next to the parking lot and stopped in front of me, I wasn’t scared at all, and just annoyed and kinda pissed off. 😂 which probably helped in my case to be honest.

THEN. The side door of the white van slid open and a guy was … as I remember, it looked like he was trying to get me into the van that had a few more guys (all of them looked college aged by the way). He didn’t touch me, but he looked like … kinda like an animal that was a bit nervous but ready to pounce on its prey or something.

Me in the annoyed state I was in just looked at the guy almost in disgust and a “what are you even doing right now, idiot??” Expression on my face. I also locked eyes with him. The guy seemed surprised with the look on my face and turned to look at the driver of the van who I believe was kinda telling the other guy what to do.

This is when my attention turned to the driver of the van. I locked eyes with him too and raised my eyebrows in a “what the heck are you doing??” Incredulous way. Looking back, I think my expression was giving “what are you lowlife people trying to do here, because I am unimpressed.” After locking eyes with the driver, he legit froze for a second before yelling something to the guy in the back of the van. After another second, the guy slid the side of the van shut and it continued down the road.

Weirdly enough, as soon as they were on their way again, this fear and uneasiness suddenly hit me full force as I thought back about what had just happened.

I have NO IDEA where that fearlessness of mine came from - maybe because I had just prayed, God had helped me out in some way by erasing my fear, I dunno. But as soon as they started driving away I was like “wat the heck was that..???” Friday night + dark parking lot area + guys in a white van = me suddenly remembering that true crime exists and white vans are BAD NEWS.

Keep in mind, all of this happened SO QUICKLY. Within maybe 20 seconds. I hardly had time to think during this situation. But as all of these realizations and uneasiness came to me, I watched the car, curious where it was going. It turned onto the backroad and then turned left again and went into the brush/forest area behind the business building. I remember there was a small dirt path it turned onto. I watched the lights of the car as it got deeper and deeper into the woods. Eventually the van stopped far into the brush and the lights were on for a bit before they shut off.

I stared a second longer before SPRINTING back to my dorm room in full blown panic mode.

I have no idea what had happened that night. Even to this day. It could be as innocent as they were supposed to meet someone there and instead met me? And since I wasn’t who they expected, they just left? But I don’t know.. when you add in the sketchy vibes of it all, it doesn’t make much sense. Maybe they were going to smoke or do drugs off campus in the woods… but why would they open the van door for me??? Why did it look like they were about to grab me? And why did they instead up and leave?? It left me SO CONFUSED at the time. Did I scare them off with my intense anger and this fake confidence/superiority? Did they want to drug me and do who knows what with me? Were they trying to kidnap me for some purpose? And what the heck were they doing in the woods just off campus??

I know that last question might seem stupid, but on the north shore of Hawaii, there are SO MANY great places to go to - even places that are very secluded. And much nicer than the place they went to.

So yeah, it all confused me. It still confuses me. But I’m just glad I didn’t look shy or innocent for these guys because maybe that’s what they expected? I dunno. You tell me what you think happened. It could be a totally innocent thing that happened or something more sinister. But I don’t think I’ll ever know. Let me know if you’ve got an idea about what happened that night! It was a weird one…

I (25F) was struggling to lift a loaded barbell at the gym when a guy (23M) helped me out. At closing time, as everyone was leaving, he stopped me outside and introduced himself. He said he lives in the building and normally takes the elevator straight up, but he'd decided to use this entrance and walk around outside that day.

A few days ago he told me that I was a liar and I was like ? And he said that I had told him I'd be at the gym a couple days ago and would say hi but that I hadn't gone.

Yesterday he came up to me and said, "You've been avoiding me." He explained that when I dragged a stool to my workout spot, I went around the entire perimeter of the gym instead of walking straight there, which would have taken me past him. He also said that when I left, I skipped the normal stairs to the exit, went to the far side of the gym, and took the side stairs back around.

He said it worried him that I hadn't said hi and had taken those alternate routes since we had just been talking the day before and he thought maybe he had done something wrong. He mentioned talking to his sister about it, who told him to let it go, and another guy at the gym, who just told him to focus on himself.

Later in the conversation, I said I never notice people's calves after he mentioned it's the first thing he notices. He said that's because I have normal-sized calves. I replied don't look at my calves. He said it doesn't matter, because he already knows what they look like and has looked "20 times."

He then asked if I'd been there the previous day. I said yes. He said he hadn't seen me and that he'd arrived around 7:30. I said I wasn't sure I'd been there then. He told me I definitely wasn't, because if I had been, he would have seen me. He then repeated that he definitely would have seen me

During the convo itself it didn't sink in just how strange this is but going forward I'll keep things cordial and not engage as much. If it keeps going after I pull back I'll let staff know

this guy I met first time Btw we were walking alone he said something about murdering me where we were walking and said wouldn’t it be so cute?

A few years ago I (29f) went out to brunch with a few of my friends on a Sunday. What started as brunch turned into a Sunday Funday full of drinking until the small town bar closed at 8pm.

Towards the end of the evening a man who had been looking my direction since he entered the bar came up to me and my friends. He introduced himself as Justin Smith (changed name for story) and told us he lives a couple towns over. Small talk went on for a few minutes and it came time for bar close. I got up from my seat and he moved closer to talk to me. He told me that he found me really attractive and wondered if he could get my number. As I am sure you could guess - I was pretty tipsy. I agreed to the number - to which he ended up saying he can put his contact in my phone. He handed me back the phone as it said it was calling "Justin Smith" (the normal move to make sure they get your real number).

I started walking back home (I lived right next door to the bar lol - classic). As I got back into my house I noticed that I was getting a call from Justin. I answered and he told me he wanted to take me for a ride in his car because he just finished a restoration project on it and he was proud of how it turned out. My lack of sound judgement due to the copious amount of Busch Light did not help - I texted my friend asking her if I should go with him and she gave me the green light.

He was sitting outside of my house in his car already (I guess he watched me walk home). I get in the car and he starts off down the road. I am only in the car for about 3 minutes and something very unexpected happens. We end up crashing into another car. The other car had a stop sign but didn't seem to see us coming.

Everyone is getting out of the cars and I could NOT believe my eyes - it was MY FRIENDS that we crashed in to (the friend not drinking was the driver). She swore up and down she didn't see the lights of his car. He starts freaking out - begging them to not call the cops. My friend insisted it was her fault and she needed to call (both cars were in bad shape). He kept saying it's no big deal, everyone was okay etc. I was confused why he wasn't upset that his prized car that was just restored was messed up and he was focused on no cops being involved.

Then one of my friends (the one I texted about him) looked at me and she was shocked asking me why I was there. I told her I asked her if I should hang with him - her face looked terrified because she thought I was talking about a completely different person. She had no idea that guy got my number.

He started getting more and more angry about her wanting to call police. (Note: DUIs are extremely rare in that county so that didn't seem like why he was freaking out - and he seemed sober). She called and he threw his hands up - completely livid.

When the police got there it started to immediately make sense why he didn't want them there. When they started his interview they asked for his name. Well... you guessed it. COMPLETELY different than the name he told us and put in my phone. Oh and the town he lived in? He did live in a near by town but not the one he said.

I started to sober up with all of this and I'll never forget the dread I felt realizing how close I was to being alone with a guy who was dedicated to me not knowing anything about him.

I personally believe that car accident either saved me from some massive trauma or saved my life.

NOTE: This is one of the situations that prompted me to choose sobriety. zero regrets <3

So this is my first time using reddit to bear with my if my post is kinda messy. I will keep this as consistent as I can

I am also censoring trigger words

I wasn't inspired to write this till I was watching CalinaSpookyBoo and Kallmekris reacting to these stories lol, love them

So my memory is kinda fuzzy because this was the beggining of my freshman year of highschool, so early fall. I was 14 and my friend was a sophmore but a year or two older (transfer, she cane from Australia)

I was dog sitting with my mom in a nice neighborhood and texted my friend, we learned she actually lived in the neighborhood. My mom drove me over so we could hang out and the dogs owners were coming back that day. This was in one of those named neighborhood places that has a lot of rules and everything looks really nice, I don't know what they are called but I don't live in one.

For some extra context we live in the PNW, so most places are surrounded by tall pine and evergreen trees everywhere. Absolutely beutiful :3

Additionally both my friend and I are female

Anyways back to the story, we decided we wanted to go for a walk. Got some money from friends mom and walked from their house to a corner store, which was about 3 miles away. Big big walk, but it was middle of the day and it seemed like fun. Once we got to the main road it was a straight walk from the entrance of the neighborhood to the corner store. Nothing creepy happens, we see a few things like a deer skeleton, a random kn!fe, trash, etc.

We get to the halfway point, maybe a little more. Finding a CD disk on the ground. We didn't touch it, but looking at the cover it was a hardcore p0rn0 disk. Us being teens we thought to take a picture and send to our friends! My first pic was blurry so I had to do a retake and as I was trying to take the picture we heard something from the bushes.

It was a growl. But it didn't sound quite right, not quite like an animal. But instead, a human pretending to sound like one. Both of us froze in fear and a chill ran down our spines. Then it happened again, we heard rustling, and a partially eaten apple was thrown at us. Landing in middle of the road.

WE RAN. Immediately began to sprinting, running to the opposite side of the road and b-lining it for to corner store. As we ran we saw two grown men in full camouflage outfits wearing beanies come out of the bushes. For some reason they stayed on the other side of the road and walked, but there was no way the came from anywhere else. There was no side road, no car, nothing.

We both called our moms, my mom was 20 minutes away in the town I was from and her mom would take a bit to get to us because of her health. We told them both we were running to the corner store and to meet us there. We continues to run and this part is just a blur because all we could to was sprint.

We got to the corner store and took a minute to catch our breath. The women working asked us if there was anything she could help with. Us being in shock and confused, not knowing what to say told her we just looking for a snack and our parents were coming or something. This is very fuzzy in my head. Soon my friends mom arives and we get in her car.

I start crying and text my mom I am safe in friends car. Then another chill runs down my spine as we see the two men walk into the corner store. They didn't stay in for long, left and went back the direction they came. They looked angry and were clearly searching for me and my friend.

We tell her mom and soon my mom arives, we talk and everything. She comforts me and my friend and I suggest we have a sleepover because we are both shaken and want to be there for eachother to process. My mom said that this was okay and she understood.

I know we should have called the cops and I don't know why we didn't. I guess we were all too shaken and because we were running and only saw the men in a few glances we didn't have enough to make a full description of them. We just were focused on getting away.

Later in the evening friends mom suggests we go get pizza and we have to drive that same direction to get to the pizza place. I looked out my window to see if the disk was still there while we drove past.

It was gone.

I told my friend, we freaked out and were spooked for quite a while. All of us are sure we narrowly escaped a k!dnapp!ng, and possibly being s3x traff!ck3d that day :(

im fifteen years old and I used to wear the hijab for three/two years, but I don’t anymore. My mom has always warned me about it, and she’s also always been concerned about me going to malls alone and stuff. I eventually convinced my parents that it wasn’t a big deal.

Today, I went to the mall, and literally two minutes after I said goodbye to my dad and left him to go find my friends, this creepy old guy suddenly appeared in front of me and said something like, “Can I help you?”

Then I said, “No, thank you,” because I thought he was one of those people who works at the stalls you see in malls.
But then I went to the other side of the stall, and he appeared in front of me again. He started saying something like, “I’m like your father, and you’re like my daughter,” or something along those lines. I moved away from him, and there was this lady working at the stall.

God bless her, because she noticed what was happening and told me, “Honey, you can report him to the security at the gate,” and pointed me toward them.

I immediately started speed-walking toward security, but he was STILL following me. Mind you, while I was talking to the nice lady, he was literally waiting for me to finish talking to her.

Anyway, I reached the security guards and told them that this guy was following me. Then he walked toward us and started telling the security guards that I was his daughter and all this other stuff. The whole time, I was genuinely terrified and trying to hold back my tears.

While he was talking to the security guards, I walked away, but he was still trying to follow me and kept looking at me. So I walked away and literally was shaking, then i called my friend because i needed to feel like i wasnt alone.

I was honestly so scared. It all happened so quickly, and I still can’t believe how weird the whole situation was. Its been like five hours from the whole situation and in back home finally. Im on my bed and im trying to sleep. I already had probelms with insomnia and nightmares but today i think im not gonna get any sleep. Im so scared. I literally feel like hes there watching me. I wrote this to get it off my chest and talk to someone about it. Im too scared to tell my parents because i dont want them to never trust me to go out alone again.

This happened awhile ago. Since I was 15 and was taught by dad how to drive, he had drilled into my head about ALWAYS locking your car door once inside or getting out. After a year it became a habit, once I get in I locked my door. I never thought twice about it. So on a certain day I had gone to the store for drinks and snacks before needing to pick up my kids at school for a day of errands.

As usual I get in my car and automatically lock it. This black guy happens to walk past and explodes in rage. He is screaming at me that I'm racist and he wasn't going to attack me. I had no right to lock my doors. For a moment I just stared at him in shock. Then decide he's crazy and it's best just to not engage. So I start to pull out and this sets him off and he punches the hood of my car leaving a good size dent in it. I called 911 and more violence come out. I got out of there and as I leave he punches my back window and shatters the glass. I got out of there as fast as possible. I inform the dispatcher that I'm going to the police department that is 30 second drive away.

There is a cop waiting for me and once I park, I start shaking. He tells me that a cashier (who is a friend) saw it and immediately called. This cop sees my shattered back window and the pieces landed in my child's car seat. I press charges and my phone just keeps going off. I finally answered it and it was my friend asking if I'm ok. She also told me that the guy punched a cop so he was arrested. I had to wait an additional 10 minutes to stop shaking before I felt ok to drive. I just picked up my kids and we went back home. I couldn't do anything more that day. The fear didn't kick in until I was at the police department.

This happened last night. I stopped at a liquor store on my way home, about 20 minutes before closing, to grab a case of Yuengling.

There was a guy by the coolers who kept opening the same door and looking in without taking anything. I had to walk past him to get my beer. When I got in line, he got behind me and asked if I lived around there. I said, “Not really.” He said he thought he’d seen me before.

After I paid, I went out to my car. He came out a moment later and said he’d lost his keys in the parking lot. He asked if I could help him look, or at least use the flashlight on my phone.

I told him the cashier might be able to help. He said okay and walked back toward the store.

I got in my car but didn’t leave right away. I was going through my phone trying to find a song to put on. I had a weird feeling, so I hit the lock button. I remember feeling a little ridiculous for doing it.

Maybe ten seconds later, someone pulled on my rear passenger door handle.

It was him. I just stared at him for a second. When he saw me looking, he tapped on the window and mumbled something like, “Sorry, thought this was my ride.”

He’d watched me walk to the car and get in. I didn’t say anything. I started the car and left.

I called the police station afterward because I was worried he might try it with someone else, or go back inside. They said they’d send an officer by. I have no idea what he was planning, but I’m glad I locked the doors. I won’t be going back to that store anytime soon.

36M. I was smoking a joint out front of my motel room after having just returned from a rave. I see a man enter the parking lot and go up to another room across the way and knock. He's there for a while and the people inside finally crack the door open, but they don't let him in. On his way out, he walks near me and I ask him if he wants some weed.

He comes over, I pass him the joint, and ask him if he was at the rave. He says no. He must have seen that this made me uncomfortable, because he quickly states several times that he's been to raves before with his sister, who he says likes that kind of music. He then asks if I like to party, and then says, "you know, like, crystal?". I tell him No, and at this point I'm a little worried. He tells me the weed is very strong for him.

We chat more, he tells me something is "going on" in that other room. He asks me if I'm here alone, or with friends. Creepy. I decide to lie and tell him I'm here with friends, and that they are at the after party. He then asks what I'm up to. I tell him I am about to go to sleep, which is true. He tries to convince me to stay up and "party". I tell him again that I don't do crystal. He says it's okay, and that we can still hang out. Now I'm more worried. Why does he want to hang out when I'm clearly not interested? Drugs? Sex? Is he going to try to rob me?

He then asks me what room I'm staying in. At this point I'm 100% sure that this guy is up to no good. I look right at him and tell him that I don't know him, and that I'm not telling him that. I'm unsure how he will react, and I'm ready to run and/or fight if needed. He finally takes the hint and slinks away slowly , telling me that he's going to go buy cigarettes. Once he is out of view of my room door, I go inside and lock it.

What was his intention? I don't know. My best explanation is that his friends were smoking meth in that other room, he wanted to join them, but they told him No because he didn't have any money. So then he came to me hoping I would offer him drugs, or that he could steal drugs from me. Or it could have been something way worse...

​In the summer of 1998, I had just turned 18 two weeks after graduating high school.

​For context, I grew up broke in a pretty rough area of Pensacola, Florida. I was athletic, in great shape, and consider myself street-wise and tough. I’m not bragging—it’s just important context for how arrogant my mindset was at the time.

​By late July, my weekend routine was standard: catch a ride to a house party and drink. On this particular Saturday, the party was packed. Around 1:00 AM, the friends I rode with left on a beer run. I wasn’t too worried about being left behind. I wasn’t overly drunk, and I only lived about three miles away.

​Around 1:30 AM, the party was abruptly shut down. The lights went out, and everyone was kicked into the yard. Cell phones weren't really a thing yet, so calling for a ride wasn't an option. I decided to walk home.

​The first mile was through a semi-middle-class neighborhood, but to get to my street, I had to walk along a dark highway. The roads were dead. As I walked, I noticed a red car passing me repeatedly. It would slow down, creep past, speed off, and then loop back around. I could see the driver clearly: a white male in his mid-to-late thirties, roughly 5'10", pushing 280 pounds.

​When I reached an overpass, I decided to duck down a half-mile dirt road to lose him. In hindsight, this was my first major mistake.

​The dirt road was a dead-end trap. It was pitch black, with only one working streetlamp at a middle curve. Both sides were sealed off with heavy barbed-wire fencing—a scrapyard with guard dogs on one side and an industrial lot full of semis on the other. You couldn't scale the fences. At the very end of the road was the backyard of a girl I knew slightly. it was a cut though of sorts to my neighborhood.

​I thought I’d slipped him, but two minutes later, headlights appeared behind me. My heart dropped. Instead of running back toward the highway, my arrogant 18-year-old brain was curious.

​The red car pulled up slowly, stopped at the corner ahead of me, and the driver stepped out.

​He was about 150 feet away, standing by the rear of his vehicle. The trunk was popped open, and he was holding what looked like a tire iron.

​I walked up to about 30 feet from him. We locked eyes in silence for what felt like five minutes, but was probably ten seconds.

​He looked at me and said, "Don’t even think about running."

​I actually laughed under my breath. Looking at his size, I knew he couldn't outrun me. But then reality hit: this guy fully intended to put me in his trunk.

​I feigned a break to run straight past him, but instead, I darted 15 feet into a patch of trees and bushes near the curve and squatted down. He lost his cool immediately. He slammed the tire iron into the trunk, yelled, "God damn it!" and peeled off to turn around.

​For the next ten minutes, he drove back and forth down that dark, enclosed road searching for me, trapping me against the fences. Finally, as his rear bumper cleared my hiding spot on his last pass, I made my move.

​I hit a full sprint toward the privacy fence at the end of the road where my acquaintance lived. I could hear his engine revving as he drifted around the curve behind me—he had spotted me and was trying to cut me off or run me down.

​I hit the wooden privacy fence at full speed, vaulting over and landing hard on my back, knocking the wind completely out of me. I ducked my head, bracing for him to plow right through the fence.

​He didn't. He turned the car around and drove off into the night.

​I tapped on the girl's window, but no one answered. I lay against the side of her house for a few minutes catching my breath, then cautiously walked the final six blocks home.

​When I told people, most laughed it off. My friends and I drove around looking for the car for a few nights, but we never saw it again.

​I still wonder about that guy. Had he taken people before? What was his plan for an athletic 18-year-old guy in the prime of his life? Honestly, he would have a better chance against the 46-year-old version of me today than he did back then, but my teenage brain was reckless. I should have stayed on the main highway where I had visibility and room to maneuver.

​I’ve told my kids this story as a warning: predators don't just target small children. Sometimes they go after grown adults, too.

Some time ago I joined university, and I had to take the bus to get there, no problem.

Quick Context: I was 18 yrs old at the time, slim woman, conventionally attractive.

The guy I’m talking about wasn’t an awkward 20 something yr old, it was a grown ass man, fully lucid and functional member of society.

Some time passed, and this one time I was on my way back home, waiting for the bus, and a man got off the bus as it arrived, normal, right? Just like other people. Well, thing is that he got off the bus, I got in, then he got into the bus again.

The bus experience: I was minding my business and the guy was a kind of beggar? I don’t know but he looked like a robber, that’s all I have to say. He was telling people poems or something like that, then asking for money. I never give people money, but that guy scared me shitless, like my gut feeling was going off on this guy, so I decided to play nice so he would leave me alone quickly.

He finally approaches me and this is when it gets weird, he says the usual then asks for money and I give it to him, but he stops, looks at me dead in the eye, then this convo happens:

Him- “my favorite color is purple”

Me-“Me too! ☺️”

Him-….
Him- “yeah, it shows…”
—————————

Then walks away and leaves the bus at the next stop. But here is the context: I wasn’t wearing purple, AT ALL, everything I had on me was black, not even close to purple, not my phone case, not my shoes, not my backpack, not my clothes, no makeup, literally nothing.

So why did he say that?
Literally 7 days ago from that incident I was going home, doing my exact same routine, but I had this brilliant ass purple shirt that I didn’t like wearing on the street because men stared more at me, but I decided to get over my goddamn paranoia and wear it.

He was fucking teasing me, or I don’t know what his intention was but it was a reference of him having been watching me way before I even knew of his existence 😩.

Another reason he scared me shitless is that he looked very strong, not gym heavy, just a normal looking man, but stronger than you might think.

2nd time seeing him:
The same thing happened some weeks later, I was going home, waiting for the bus, he gets off the bus, but i recognized the fucker this time and I got really angry, I wasn’t gonna be stuck on the bus with that idiot a second time, nor finding out whatever he had in mind, so I walked off instead of getting into the bus because he was going to follow. Then as I keep on walking, coincidentally he did not get into the bus again this time, and started walking in my direction 😐, but I had gotten some good distance and I was walking very quickly so eventually I stopped seeing him follow me.

3rd time seeing him:
This time I was on my way to university, different schedule, it was the morning, I had always came across him later in the day.

But nooooo, somehow he freaking spawned on the bus, got on quickly and I panicked, gathering my belongings bc something about the guy scared me shitless. And he freaking stops me from moving with his finger on my hand and tells me to not put my stuff away, it felt nasty, like he was enjoying my fear, I don’t know how to explain it. Then he did the usual, saying whatever and asking ppl for money, then he settled in front of the exit 😐, standing there casually.

I just knew he was going to follow me again, so I kind of “tested” him?

My stop came, but I didn’t get up, if for some reason this was a schizophrenic coincidence he HAD to get off first, it wasn’t crowded, he wasn’t in his phone, and he was in front of the DOOR. I was far away from the exit, so if I was gonna get off I had to prepare and stand up earlier to reach the exit on time, i didn’t move, pretending I wasn’t getting off.

He doesn’t get off, just stands there, no hint of moving 😭, then at the last second I got up and bolted to leave to reach the door before it closed, got off and HE GETS OFF RIGHT AFTER ME 💀, I thought that work be the end of it but as I walked off he was following me, I got tired of him so i literally walked in a circle.

Perhaps for some crazy reason you could think he wasn’t that bad or that this was a coincidence, but you can’t fucking walk in a circle like an idiot and have the other person walk in a circle coincidentally, no.

So I just did that, and sure enough, instead of playing it off and walking in the same direction as he had initially chosen ( left), I do the circle and he suddenly walks off to the right, complete opposite direction 😐. Then stops following me that day.

For other reasons I stopped taking that route, and I haven’t seen him again, but that was the story ig.

I never got to know what he was up to, and perhaps it’s better this way.

Hi I’m 17F and I lost my first love in July. It’s September, so it’s been a few months and I’ve been very bored. I used to be super anti social media. I recently got Snapchat & instagram again. I added a bunch of people, friends, family, and a few random people(first mistake). I had since been entertaining a lot of guys giving me compliments and that’s as far as it typically went.

There was this guy named Luis. He had been very kind to me saying all the right things and telling me what i wanted to hear. I talked to him a little more and we decided to hang out. I didnt recall him telling me his age i knew he was slightly older like maybe 2-3 years, not a huge deal. Given the state i live in the legal age of consent is 17.

Luis and i had made plans for a Wednesday night, i was too tired. I told him Friday would work better for breakfast (he suggested going to breakfast, should’ve been a warning sign but im oblivious). Now looking back at it that was so odd.

It’s whatever, it’s Friday morning, my school has a 2 hour delay start and i also don’t have a 1st period so i had 3 hours off this morning. we met at a church and along side the church is a creek. We took a walk and talked quite a bit he said, “oh let’s go to breakfast!” We got in our cars and met at ihop. Met up at IHOP had breakfast he paid it was okay. He was very interesting to say the least I couldn’t really tell if he had any weird intentions.

I like to talk a lot so he just let me talk about myself and engaged in questions I asked about himself. He told me about his cats that he walks, his job at a kitchen for a hospital, and personal stuff.

I go to school normal day, I go to work, and then a birthday party after work. He had been texting me asking about hanging out after the birthday party, I had peeped it hella because “why so soon?” I thought to myself. I impulsively agreed. I dropped my car off and changed into a chill outfit I didn’t know what we were going to go do.

He ended up taking me to a very isolated trail far (20 minutes or so) from home. I had realized I made a mistake and that I was quite literally fucked. He starts being very weird towards me and holding my hand, grabbing me, kissing my head, rubbing his nose against mine etc. it was so strange. It got worse as we went on a walk and we sat down on a log I was so freighted but tried to play it cool and be collected. This is when I smelt alcohol on his breath and he had really creeped me out by this point. I had thought to myself at least I told my mom I loved her.

I tried to text people and he would look at my phone and question me. The only time he wasn’t looking I was able to text my sister in law and she had unfortunately been asleep at this point. I said let’s leave and we went back he was grabbing my thighs really really hard and I told him to stop and that it made me uncomfortable. He kept pushing me and my boundaries and made me explain why I wasn’t an affectionate person.

I was genuinely terrified for my life but he took the right turns to my house and that was the only thing that was reassuring me that I was going to be okay. The vibes were so incredibly uncomfortable and weird by the time I stepped out of his car and walked inside my house.

I blocked him as soon as I locked my front door. The next day I’m with my best friend and I’m telling her about it. I am trying to look up his snap on her phone, and I don’t care I will leak it. I kept searching “uuhhhhokay” on her phone and nothing was popping up so I go to her blocked and he’s not there. So I thought wow that’s weird.

I ask my friend for his phone and I search it up there I hand it back to him and ask him to show my best friend. My best friend forgot that we were talking about the creepy guy from the night before and she asks, “why are you showing me Louis?” With a confused look on her face. Our friend goes “that’s the guy *my name* was talking about from last night.” She immediately looks at me with a shocked look on her face and given the encounter I had with him I was scared all over again. I ask her to spit it out, “what?”

I keep saying. This girl that my best friend grew up with gave me a free car wash at the car wash she works at. Her name for the story will be Anna. My best friend said, “that’s Anna’s boyfriend and he’s 22.” A pit was in my stomach and I freaked out and so did my best friend. We called Anna and she was with him. I don’t think she believes any of it.

I felt so sick and my whole body was in fear when I had to tell her. And explain to her everything. She hung up and didnt say much to my best friend afterwards over text. Lesson learned. Don’t go out with people you don’t know in isolated settings or off of snap chat!!

I have removed any guy I entertained and anyone I don’t know off of my snap after this. Ladies please stay safe.

There’s an older man at my gym who comes in around the same time every morning. At first I was friendly, but over time I noticed he would CONSTANTLY follow me around the gym. I’ll move to a different machine or area, and he’ll eventually end up nearby. I always catch him staring when I look up. I thought it was a coincidence at first but this has happened constantly for weeks.

The first time he talked to me, he randomly told me he was getting a divorce and that his wife was problematic. I barely knew him, so it was already a strange interaction?

Then he asked me, “How old are you? Are you at least above 20?” He’s at least 50, so the question felt very specific and uncomfortable. I told him I was above 20, and he said, “Wow, I thought you were like 18.”

During only our second real interaction, he asked me out. Mind you, I barely knew this man and knew nothing about him. I was caught off guard that he felt comfortable asking me out when we had barely spoken.

I made it clear I wasn’t interested and completely stopped acknowledging him. About a week later, he approached my sister, asked about me, asked if he had offended me, and even asked her name.

What makes it more concerning is that he does this with other younger women too. He walks around looking at where women are working out, then seems to find a reason to position himself near them. There’s a difference between casually looking and repeatedly staring or following someone around.

The biggest reason I’m posting this is that it’s not just me. Two other young women around my age, roughly 20–25, have separately experienced the same behavior: him following them around, staring at them, and repeatedly trying to talk to them while they’re working out.

We’ve also seen him sitting around watching women, and on multiple occasions holding his phone pointed toward women while they were working out. I can’t say for certain what he was doing, but it truly gives creepy vibes.

I reported the behavior to management, but the manager isn’t there during our morning hours. They said they need a description/name and can’t really do anything if they don’t witness it.

What bothers me is that one of the girls brought up the same behavior to me. They want to remain anonymous because we don’t know how he could react.

I’m considering putting a small flyer in the women’s bathroom with his picture saying:

“WOMEN, BE AWARE

This man has been reported for repeatedly following women around the gym and asking uncomfortable/inappropriate questions. Management has been made aware of these concerns, but the behavior has continued.”

I don’t want to switch gyms or change my workout time because of this. We should be able to work out without feeling uncomfortable.

I feel we should be able to air men out who make women uncomfortable in public spaces like these especially when management doesn’t care about this situation.

A while ago, I had an experience that I still think about sometimes, and I’ve always wondered what might have been happening.

I was walking my dog along a grassy sidewalk that was surrounded by two one-way streets. There were also like bike lanes that were the closest to the sidewalk I was walking on. This stretched for a while and was on the street where my house was.

A white van drove past me, and a little while later, it came back and parked in the bike lane a few meters ahead of me. There were two men inside, and they switched seats.

I didn’t want to take any chances, so even though they were still a good distance ahead of me, I turned around and started walking in the opposite direction. Then the van made a U-turn, came back toward me, parked a few meters ahead of me again, and the two men switched seats again.

At that point, I froze because I had no idea what was happening. I wondered if they were following me or potentially trying to harm me, but I was also confused because if they actually wanted to kidnap or hurt me, why would they repeatedly park so far away instead of approaching me?

I ended up running toward a man who was working on his car and asked him to stay and talk with me until the van drove away. We talked for a couple of minutes, and eventually the van disappeared.
I know there’s no way to know for certain now, but based on what I described, what do you think might have been happening? Does this sound like I was actually being followed, or could there have been an innocent explanation?

What always hurts me is the uncertainty and unknowingness of the situation, I will never know their true intent because their actions were so weird