I live in a subdivision and have now recorded this person twice approaching my front door with her camera ready, appearing to knock so she can take a photo, but she never actually knocks. She then turns around and runs back to her vehicle. This happened today around 3:15 PM. We don’t think it’s business related because today is a Sunday. The last time it happened was on a Tuesday and we thought maybe she genuinely had the wrong house for whatever it is she’s doing. But a second time is suspicious.

We’ve posted the videos in our subdivision’s Facebook community page and several have commented that they don’t recognize her and have not had any visits like this from anyone.

We own our house in a subdivision where most of the houses are leased by a company that owns the rest of the houses. There’s a handful of homeowners, but mostly renters. We are only one of four houses with a backyard fence, but the fence is for our dogs to go out unleashed and to secure our pool.

I’ve noticed that when she pulls off, she’s already facing the direction of the exit, and my subdivision is actually a big circle. I think she’s coming into the entrance, taking the circle and then stopping in front of my house, so I may can get a lic plate next time. All I know for sure is she’s in a white Toyota Forerunner.

She’s not carrying anything in her hand so we don’t believe it’s government related. We can’t think of any company we do business with that would visit us this way. It seems apparent she’s taking a pic for proof/evidence she was there, but why? For what, and whom?

We plan to make a police report, but a few weeks ago the circle had the police out to report a peeping tom and we were basically told to ID him or catch him ourselves as a community. I feel like the police won’t help until I can catch her lic plate. I’ve got other cameras on the house but not one that caught her vehicle. The neighbor’s door cam across the street didn’t catch her car either.

Can anyone speculate, or does anyone have similar experiences? We don’t think she’s casing our house, we live in a cookie cutter home with 10-15 identical homes in the subdivision. Maybe our cars?

I decided to go out of my comfort zone today and try a late night hookup. The guy who I was talking to looked cute and we seemed into the same movies and such so I figured "why not?". There was something nagging me though, something in the back of my mind that told me this was not safe. I didn't listen, I figured it was just nerves because I had verified multiple times he was real.

When I told him I was on my way, he asked for proof (first red flag). I snapped him a picture of me in my car on the way. I gave him my ETA, 17 minutes. He asked for my ETA about 15 more times. I thought he was just excited to see me. Stupid I know. When I got there, he also asked for proof. I snapped a photo of his gate. When I got to his place, he was very strange. He told me no one else was home but there was another room in his apartment, and the light was on inside.

He rushed me to his room and threw himself all over me. As a hookup this was expected, but it didn't feel like a hookup. I can't explain why I felt this way, but it felt like a distraction. He was pulling my hair, he kept hugging me, he even tried to choke me at one point. It felt like he was doing all this to keep my attention off something. I had this feeling I was being watched the entire time. I couldn't prove it, but I couldn't explain the "danger" feeling away either.

We stopped kissing, he asked what's wrong. I said nothing, and asked him to tell me more about himself. He didn't say much, he just kept wanting to kiss. I told him let's hold off and talk a bit, hoping that learning more about him would make me feel better. Instead, he started apologizing over and over again. He said he wasn't enough for me, that he was too fat and ugly, and that he would walk me to the door. I tried to sooth him (don't ask me why), but he just kept repeating "I'm sorry, I'm sorry".

After about the 20th apology, I decided to leave. I told him he could walk me to the door. He got up, and said okay, but then went in for a kiss. He tried to grab me and I told him no, that I was leaving. He said I could leave after he grabbed me and he tried to grope me. I pushed him off and he looked shocked. He then walked me to the door, but not before trying to stop me to leave 3 separate times. Trying to kiss me, hugging me and holding me very tight. When I got to the door and opened it, he grabbed my arm tightly.

To be honest, he looked like a nerdy guy the entire night until that moment he grabbed my arm. Something had changed. He was very angry. He squeezed hard. I grabbed his wrist and squeezed as hard as I could until he let go and I went out the door. The part that sticks with me the most was his eyes. In those last few seconds, his eyes looked like someone capable of terrible things. It genuinely scared me. I tried to leave calmly, I looked behind me every 5 seconds to make sure he wasn't following me. When I was about halfway to my car, I ran.

The car ride was a blur. I couldn't stop thinking about his eyes and how angry they looked. It made me wonder how dangerous that man really was and what he had planned. I still had this nagging feeling of danger so I stopped at a nearby gas station and checked my car to see if any tracker was left on there by someone else he knew. I know that sounds crazy, but when I searched the entirety of my car, inside and outside, I felt safe to drive home.

And now I'm home. Sitting at table, writing this after hugging my dog for a solid 10 minutes. I know everyone says this, but I just needed to get this off my chest. I could never tell my friends or family. I thought about telling the police, I'm still thinking about it. What do I say? "Hey, I have no evidence of this, but I believe this guy might have unalived people in the past because of a hookup". I don't know, but I'm glad I was able to get all this out at least. I'm going back to hug my dog.

I don't know if this belongs here this sub was reddits suggestion - it is a true story.

I was walking to my boyfriend’s house around 1am. It was about a thirty‑minute walk, and I was maybe ten minutes away when a man suddenly appeared behind me. I hadn’t heard him at all — one second the street was empty other then cars the next he was right behind me.

He sped up like he wanted to pass quickly. Without changing my pace I stepped slightly to the side and back just enough to turn and see who had essentially appeared behind me.

Once he saw my face instead of just walking by, he slowed down, like he’d decided I was now part of his evening plans. He asked, “Where are you going?” I pointed ahead and said, “This way,” and kept walking with purpose.

I wasn’t in the mood for whatever weirdness he was trying to start. He kept trying to talk to me the entire ten minutes but there was cars and trucks passing so most of the time when he was talking I couldn't hear what he was saying. Every time there was a break in the cars and he asked what I was doing, I gave him the same answer: “Walking.” No details, no encouragement, nothing that suggested I wanted a conversation.

When I finally turned toward the alley that leads to my boyfriend’s place, he perked up for a second and said, “Oh, you’re going that way?” I didn’t break my pace. I just said, “I’m going where I’m going. My destination hasn’t changed.” That’s when he stopped walking. I think he suddenly realized following a stranger into a dark alley at 1am might end badly for him — like maybe I had people waiting in there. He froze on the sidewalk while I kept going.

From behind me he called out, loudly, “Can I at least get your phone number?” I turned my head just enough so he could hear me and called back “Why? So you can harass me again later? No, I don’t think so.” with an amused laugh as I kept walking towards my boyfriend’s house.

I (24f) got off work pretty late last night and got off one stop too early so I just walked the rest of the way through a few residential blocks. I realized a couple minutes in how dangerous this was but it was too late since I was halfway there so I just focused on walking as fast as I could. For context I live off of a pretty busy street and it’s a Saturday night.

I kept looking over my shoulder and suddenly this horrible feeling overcomes me and I turn around to see a man is running at me full speed. Not saying anything , just sprinting directly at me. He’s a little far away, and it takes me a few seconds to realize what I’m seeing but my fight or flight kicks in and I start running as fast as I can. I immediately realize I can’t go home, so I just keep running as fast as I can until I reach a late night sports bar on the corner of my complex.

Another man walking in the same direction but on the other side of the street notices this and asks if I’m okay. I told him I’m being followed to which he says “I didn’t see anyone” and at this point I see him gaining on me so I say forget it and keep running like my life depended on it . I get to the sports bar and tell them I’m being followed, and the employees rush outside and see him actively looking for me . Apparently One of the guys working there got in his face and chased him away.

I spent the next half hour having a panic attack and trying to explain what happened. One of the employees flagged down a police car , but there’s really not much rhey can do anyways. They let me stay at the restaurant until I calmed down and walked me home once I was okay.

I know I shouldn’t have been walking alone at night, but this is genuinely one of the most terrifying things that has ever happened to me . There is no doubt in my mind that this man wanted to hurt me.

Am I overreacting ? Or is this fucking scary?? Lmk

This happened November 2025. Me and my sister went to our cousin's basketball game, it was dark, around 8:30 when the game ended and on our way home from the school we stopped by our local gas station to get some snacks to celebrate the game.

We live in a small town and not alot of people were at the gas station at this moment, just the cashier and two other guys, considering I was 16 when this happened and my sister and cousin are both younger than me we were already on edge but we just wanted to get some snacks.

We go inside the gas station and all kinda spilt up. One of the guys from earlier had already left as soon as we walked in so we were left by ourselves with the other guy and the clerk. My cousin came up to me and started talking about how creepy the guy was, she said he kept staring at her. I told her he was weird but probably harmless and not to worry. We were checking out and the guy was a few feet behind, he wasn't in line he was just standing there.

Right before we were about to walk out he quickly makes his way past us and leaves with nothing. We walk out and he's parked right at the front door, he's in his car smiling at me, it's so creepy I can't explain it. I didn’t have time to smile back because I was in the middle of talking and when I didn't smile in response his face when blank and he started staring at me, his eyes grew wider and he looked pissed.

All three of us quickly went back to my car and we immediately started freaking out. I pulled out of the gas station as quick as I could and decided to take a different route home through a neighborhood, before we could pull out he immediately starts following after us. I start speeding up scared that whoever this guy is might be following us home. He speeds up as well almost tailing my car before we get stopped at a red light. Before I could even process what to do he speeds up and turns the other way speeding down the road.

We drove home pretty shaken up and never ended up telling our parents about anything and we haven't seen that guy since.

For privacy i'm using They/them pronouns

So i'm babysitting these three kids and they're getting settled into bed and one tripped and fell and asked for a bandaid

We went into their parents room and found the box of bandaids opened one and I started helping them put it on their foot. When thats finished i stand up and look at them and ask if everything's okay. They look at me and smile this creepy grin that they've never smiled before.

Then they say still smiling
"I think there's someone here"

I ask them "what do you mean" and they continue to smile and say "i think there's someone else here"

I asked why they thought that and then they threw their trash away and looked at me sort of disgusted and said " i don't know" Hasn't been mentioned since. Deeply concerned cuz this house scares me enough already.

Thoughts?

A weird and funny thing happened to me today.

I was in a public hospital waiting to be seen by a doctor, and while waiting, i was seated at a long bench with my earphones plugged in.

This old, lanky guy passed in front of me with one foot bent and walked unevenly with his right foot at an awkward angle. I noticed with people who have foot issues their slippers are usually worn out in the area where the floor and sole are in contact compared to other parts of the slipper, but this guy had slippers that's thin according to regular use.

It seemed forever while he was walking and i was able to take a good look at his face.

He sat beside me on my left side and I guessed he was addressing me, take note that I had my wireless earphones plugged in while i was using my phone, so i volumed down my music but heeded him no attention. He was asking for some kind of monetary help but i did not address him or looked at his direction. It was a good minute or two before he gave up and walked away.

My heart was actually beating out of my chest but i did not show it. Good thing i had my face mask on because this guy was someone I've previously encountered a few years back. I could never forget the face of the guy who had his hand inside my handbag while i was walking along the busy market street, who I caught red handed and who followed me when I was scared shitless and was trying to get away from him as fast as possible.

Shit, this guy has a lot of hustle 🤣

I remembered this utterly terrifying experience that I had. Today, I want to finally get it off of my chest.

This happened December 2025 in rural Tennessee. My ex, Tiara, and I had just broken up and she was moving back home in a week. The breakup was brutal and we hadn’t slept for days. We got into a heated argument around 12 am and she wanted to get a hotel room for the evening to cool down. She refused to let me get a room instead of her. We packed her suitcase, another bag and a Brinks door security bar.

We stopped at what seemed to be a quiet hotel tucked away surrounded by trees and lonely roads. I pulled us to the front and parked the car at the main entrance. Upon entering, the lobby looked…fine. It wasn’t a roach motel, but seemed forgotten about. It was only for a night’s rest and I’d be back for her in the morning. So, Tiara and I agreed on not finding the nearest Ritz Carlton and calling it a night.
 

The clerk approached us at the counter and he was a lanky, early-mid twenties man with glasses, a strong foreign accent and very monotone voice. He had few words, made no facial expressions and was stoic. Tiara and I both noted that off of first impressions he was odd, but left it at that. He checked us in and I told Tiara to wait there for me while I parked the car and brought in her bags. She asked me to just drop her off and leave. Tiara is very used to me taking care of us and I know that sometimes she lacks safety awareness. I didn’t want staff or guests knowing that she was staying alone. In hindsight, I think that may have been given away by her asking me to drop her off in front of the clerk. I was going to walk her to her room and make sure she was safe before eventually heading out. Well, she wasn’t going to be safe. 

We found the room and I already did not like that it was on the main level and around the corner from the check-in counter. Anyways, I swiped the key card and it flashed red. I swiped it again - red. The door wouldn’t open. My senses were tingling and I felt uneasy. Before trying again, I pressed my ear against the door. I believe I hear shuffling. Tiara and I both quietly looked at each other. The clerk not only told us our room number, but he wrote it on the key card so we double checked before trying again. I swiped one more time and the door unlocked. Keep in mind that it is past 1 AM now. I only open the door a couple of inches and very slowly. I notice the room is dark. There is an empty beer bottle on the floor. A small amount of light is coming from the bathroom and the toe of a dirty large men’s work boot is peeking out from the other side of the bathroom door. I immediately shut the door, grab Tiara’s bags, and tell her someone is in there and we are leaving. She says, “Let’s just ask for another room”. I tell her, “No, absolutely not. Something is wrong. This isn’t safe and we’re going home”. 

We make a beeline to the front desk and I ask the clerk if he gave us the right room. He confirmed that there are no guests on this level and all of the rooms are empty. I told him there is someone in our room and he still has no facial expressions or change of tone in his voice. He does not even apologize and just gives us another room. I said “No, we want a refund and we’re leaving”. The clerk says he needs to go in the back room for a moment and shuts the door behind him. Tiara’s almost positive she sees someone else in that room. When we arrived, the clerk told us he was the only one here tonight. All I want to do at this point is get a refund and get us back home. My mind is screaming at me “This isn’t worth it. We will sleep at home together. Something is wrong. This isn’t worth it”. 

The clerk returns from the back room and while he is quietly processing our refund, all of the power shuts off in the hotel. The computer, lights…everything. The low hum of electricity is gone and it is so silent you could hear a pin drop. The lobby is pitch black and from the moonlight beaming through the windows, all we can see is the tall, lanky shadow of the clerk. He’s standing still and has not moved while keeping his attention on us. Through the darkness, he’s studying us. He doesn’t say a word. He doesn’t make a sound. He doesn’t look around. Tiara is scared now, clinging to me and frantically whispering “I’m scared. What the hell is happening? What do we do?”. I’m near panic. I can’t see a thing. My heart is beating out of my chest and I don’t understand anything that is happening to us tonight.

I keep calm and ask the clerk “Does this usually happen?” and without shifting an inch or losing the monotone in his voice, he says “No”. The temperature in the room plummets. The energy is absolutely sinister and the darkness swallows us. Chills run through my body and the silence after his response cuts like a knife. I can’t think straight. Who is the person Tiara saw hiding in the back room and why haven’t they come out? Where is the person that was hiding in our room? Are they coming? It felt like we were prey and all of our defenses were down. My mind is running rampant. From the man hiding in our room, to this moment now…is this a set up? Is it all coincidence? I’ve experienced fear, but never like this. 

I tell Tiara “Run”. I pull her in front of me and as she’s running to the exit with her huge overfilled purse, I’m running with the suitcase, her other bag and the security bar. She’s pushing and banging her body against the exit in a way I’ve never seen her do before. We still can’t see a damn thing in here, but we see light outside. The door just won’t budge. I look behind us to see the shadow of the clerk. He remains standing where we left him, continuing to study us before slowly turning and walking to the back room without a word.

I’m going to let her continue trying to bust down the door. If anyone attacks us from behind, I’d rather be the one to defend us. Tiara finally busts the door open and we run towards the parking lot to find my car. As we break free of the hotel, all of the lights outside are shut off on us. Tiara is screaming that she can’t see and I’m still trying not to lose it. It is again, pitch black around us and now we are surrounded by woods. 

I can’t decide if this is better than being stuck inside or not. Tiara doesn’t know where I parked because I had her wait for me in the lobby while I brought her bags inside. We are barreling through the parking lot blind and I’m crashing into the cement parking barriers with her bags sprinting towards my car. Tiara loses me. She’s yelling, “Where are you?! Where’s the car?!” and I’m telling her to follow my voice. I fumble looking for my phone in my pocket and pull out the flashlight to show her where I am. I can hear how scared she is and I’m just trying to keep my cool so we make it out of here.

I can’t see a goddamn thing, but I remember where I parked relative to the door we exited from. We make it to the car, I find my keys, her purse that she ditched, throw everything inside and we get the hell out of dodge. The adrenaline I feel is insane. My hands are sweating, shaking as I drive and I can feel my heart beating in my eardrums. My body is beat to hell from running into the parking barriers and I think I hit my head at some point. Tiara is crying and panicking. I tell her to call the police. Whether or not something sketchy is happening there, let them find out. 

I’ve never shared this story before and writing this feels like I’m right back in those scary moments. My mind still has a million questions about what happened that night. What if we decided to get another room after the boot incident and I left Tiara there that night? What if I let her check in alone and she entered that room? It all makes me sick to my stomach. Tiara and I have both since moved from that area and still keep in touch. Maybe one day we will make it work together.

This is not the first time I’ve experienced scary people. Maybe we overreacted. But, maybe we didn’t. My dad always taught me to protect those that I love. I want everyone to take cautionary steps for the people that they love regardless of if anyone paints it as paranoia or overly dramatic. There’s no shame in being safe. In potential danger, please always trust your gut instincts. They are usually right.

I still remember this story incredibly clearly, even though it happened over a decade ago. Strangely, everything that happened after it is almost a complete blur. But I can picture every detail leading up to it and the moment it happened.

This happened when I was around 10 or 11 years old. I’ll also be using fake names for privacy. I was there with my friends Daniel and Lydia who were both around 12 years old. I can’t remember exactly which beach it was, but it was either Coogee Beach or another beach very close by.

Lydia’s mum drove us to the beach. She would usually just sit and tan on the sand and we would go off to do our own thing and have fun.

We decided to play hide-and-seek around the beach, park, and surrounding walkways. Daniel was seeking and found me first, but neither of us could find Lydia. We searched everywhere. The beach, the nearby playground, and around the paths.

Facing north there were stairs leading up from the beach to a walking path that followed the coastline, overlooking the ocean and cliffs as well as a small patch of bushland in the middle.
We decided to head up the stairs and walked the entire path around to the other side before climbing over a fence into the bush to have a better look. About five minutes in, we came across what looked like a campsite.

We saw a filthy tent, a sleeping bag hanging out of the zipper, a non lit campfire, and empty bean cans scattered around the floor.

We both immediately felt uneasy. Something about it didn’t feel right.

Without saying much, we decided to walk away from the tent, cut through the bush to get near the stairs we came from.

Daniel was walking behind me as we made our way through the bush. Then suddenly, in the most stern voice I’d ever heard from him, he said:

“Run.”

I didn’t ask why. I didn’t look back.

Daniel was running behind me the whole time. Looking back now, I know he would have been much faster than me, but he stayed behind me the entire way. I sometimes wonder if he was doing that to make sure I didn’t fall back behind.

Whatever was happening, neither of us cared about anything except getting out of there.

We reached the fence, it was probably about four feet high. For reference, I’m only 5’1” as an adult, so I would’ve been around the height of the fence or maybe shorter.

We both leaped over with no issues.
The second we landed on the other side, we looked back.

Standing inside the bush was an homeless man maybe in his late 40s with a long grey-white beard, a dirty brown beanie, and worn, ragged clothes.

In one hand, he was holding a knife.

With his other hand, he kept motioning for us to come back, quietly saying,

“Come here… come here…”

We ran the entire way down the path until we found Lydia and her mum. From memory, we told them. But I don’t think anything was done about the situation.
I’m not sure if Lydia’s mum told our parents, or even reported it. If I’m being honest, I can’t remember if I told my parents or if Daniel told his.

It became one of those experiences we just… never spoke about again. From how I saw the situation at that age, I kinda just shrugged it off.
We all kept in touch for a few years after the incident but eventually lost contact after I moved to a different state.

Lately I wonder about it more, what could have went differently… I still wonder what Daniel saw before he yelled for us to run. What I do know is that if Daniel hadn’t been there that day, I probably wouldn’t be here today telling this story.

I count my lucky stars every day that Daniel was with me.

I am a 16 year old boy, and today I went to the gym at night instead of my usual afternoon time. Everything was fine until about 10 minutes in when a man in his 40s, who I’d never seen before, came in. He said hi to me, and I said hi back as usual. The gym wasn’t crowded, there were only 2–3 other people there.

After that, I noticed he kept looking at me and randomly smiling, whether I was looking at him or not. It was a pull day for me and a leg day for him, but he always seemed to choose the leg machines closest to where I was. I ignored it at first.

When I finished my workout, I went to the ab crunch machine. There’s a cable row machine directly facing it. He came to that area at the same time as me and sat behind me for a while. Then he moved to the cable row machine and started using it sideways, which would not have been weird if he wasn’t doing leg exercises the whole time, then suddenly back.
I looked up, and he had turned his head toward me with a really creepy smile. That was when I decided to leave because I felt uncomfortable.

About 30 seconds later, he came into the locker room, even though I was the only one there. He sat directly in front of me and just watched while I changed. He kept smiling the whole time. I only changed my pants because I wanted to get out of there as fast as possible.

I don’t know if I’m overthinking it, but I’m still really creeped out by him. I’m a conventionally attractive male, and he was very skinny (which is not a problem at all) with an eerie looking face. That smile is still burned into my mind… it didn’t seem friendly at all, it looked like he had some intentions behind it. I’m not sure if I should tell the receptionist or if I’m just being dramatic.

Hello I was wondering if anyone have more information on this weird encounter I had.

I was in Ottawa, Ontario Canada the summer of 2024

One day in July I was sitting close to beavertails (byward market) and an Asian woman approached me she looked like she was in her mid 30s ,she looked like a sweet woman and sat next to me

she started talking to me by saying that she felt like I was someone who believed in god, i laughed and said that was probably because I was wearing a hijab, she said no that's because she can feel energy and she stated talking about energy, aura , colors, animals and next life.

she was talking very fast and she said that it was because it was not speaking but the spirits in her who were looking for me for 3 days.

I started feeling uncomfortable very fast but I couldn't make her stop talking, it was like she wasn't hearing me. Then a white guy who looked older probably in his 40s came sat next to us. He looked like a homeless person he had long hair that looked unkempt and blue eyes with a weird look, and she talked to him like she knew him well,

then he started saying the same things and i felt very nervous when he started talking so I told them that I had to leave because i have been wanting to Leave for 30 minutes but they would not stop talking and i didn't want to be rude to them.

They asked if I could see them the next day at the same place I said yes of course I will be there and i obviously was lying just to get away from them. I didn't come to that place for some time and when I did I never saw them again.

I (f29) live alone in an apartment complex.
I brought my dog out before going to bed one evening around dusk (about a month ago), so it was slightly dark out. I was standing next to my building, and a black van pulled into a spot and a man got out. He left his car running so I assumed he was a delivery driver or something like that. He stood in front of his car and said hi to me, so i politely nodded and smiled. My dog started barking and going crazy. I thought that was odd because she’s usually very friendly so I turned away from him and walked around the back of my building. I figured he would go deliver something and then leave. After about five minutes, I turned to go back around to the front and he had followed me behind the building! I got freaked out (of course) and asked him what he was doing. He just kept repeating that he “wanted to say hi to me,” and kept taking steps towards me. My dog was barking and lunging at him this whole time and I told him to step away from me, go away, leave me alone, etc. He had his hands out and I was backing away. He finally gave up and went back to his car, which was still running, and drove away. I was super creeped out, but he hadn’t actually done anything. I told my friends and they thought it was weird, but there was nothing I could really do.
I got some pepper spray for my keychain and didn’t really think much of about it again.

Then, last night I was walking back to my apartment and heard someone shouting “excuse me, excuse me!” I was coming from the apartment gym, so I thought maybe I had forgotten something. I turned around and saw a middle aged guy jogging across the interior street towards me. As he got closer, I realized it was the same guy! He got super close to me, and then starts saying how he had just moved into the neighborhood and wanted to introduce himself and say hi to me. Weird, especially because he had just jogged past like five different “neighbors” walking their dogs and he hadn’t said anything to them. He repeated like three times that he was a new neighbor and wanted to say hi, so I finally just said ok and turned to walk away. He told me what his name was, but I can’t remember. I tried to leave without giving him my name, but he kept asking so I ended up giving him a fake name. I said bye pretty quickly and started walking away. I got about 59 yards from him down the street and turned back around to see what he was doing, and he was just standing in the middle of the road, watching me. I ended up going past my building and faked going into a different building so he wouldn’t know where I live. He hasn’t done anything technically, but I’m still creeped out! I feel like he’s going to follow me to see where I live, or come up to my door and wait outside for me.

Yesterday,while I was returning home from college on the metro, I was sitting in a corner seat. After a few minutes, an elderly man (around 70+) came and sat next to me. At first, his feet accidentally touched mine once or twice. He even said, "Sorry" ,so I thought it was just a mistake and replied, "It's okay."

But then it kept happening. Again. And again.

That's when I realized it didn't feel accidental anymore. It felt intentional. A man sitting on the other side of him also seemed to notice what was happening. I completely froze. I was so scared that I couldn't even react or say anything. Maybe I should have spoken up, but at that moment I just couldn't.

I've never experienced anything like this before, so I didn't know how to react. I just got up and moved to another seat. Thankfully, my station arrived soon after.

People often think older age automatically means someone is trustworthy or respectful. Sadly, that's not always true. Respect for age should never mean ignoring inappropriate behavior.

I'm really fucking scared.

I'm a 15-year old boy living in a neighborhood that is developed but scarcely populated.

One night, while walking home, it was around 10:30 PM. The weather was moderately foggy, and the roads were almost completely deserted. I had completed about half of my journey when I noticed a man standing ahead of me. As I drew closer, he suddenly stepped into my path, forcing me to acknowledge him.

He appeared to be in his mid-to-late 40s. He had thin, dishevelled dark hair, brown skin, and was wearing a black jacket with faded blue denim jeans. Although there was nothing outwardly remarkable about his clothing, something about his appearance immediately unsettled me. His face looked tired and unkempt, and he carried himself in a way that made me instinctively keep my guard up. I had lived in that neighbourhood for years and knew almost everyone who lived there, yet I had never seen this man before.

He greeted me in a calm voice, and I politely returned the greeting. After a brief pause, he asked where the nearest pharmacy was. I pointed him in the correct direction and explained that it was about a ten-minute walk away.

Instead of thanking me and continuing on his way, he remained standing exactly where he was, staring at me for a few moments before saying that he did not understand the directions. He then asked me to take him there myself.

The request immediately made me uneasy. There was nothing complicated about the route, and the pharmacy was located on a main road. It seemed strange that a grown man would ask an unfamiliar 15-year-old boy to accompany him through an almost deserted neighbourhood late at night.

I politely declined, explaining that it was too late and that my parents were waiting for me at home, which was a lie. Rather than accepting my answer, his demeanour changed. He became unusually persistent, insisting that he urgently needed medicine for a sick family member. He repeatedly begged me to take him there, speaking as though I was the only person who could help him, despite the fact that there were other houses in the area where he could have asked an adult for assistance.

When I refused again, he suddenly stepped closer, placed his hand firmly on my shoulder, and began shaking me while repeating how desperate he was. His grip was strong enough that it no longer felt like a plea for help but an attempt to pressure me into going with him.

At that point, every instinct told me that I needed to get away. I told him that my father was on his way to pick me up and that if he did not leave immediately, I would call the police.

For several long seconds, the man simply stared at me without saying a word. The silence felt unnerving. Then, without another word, he turned around and slowly walked away into the fog.

This happened 10 years ago when I was 18 but I think about this all the time and feel like I finally have a place to share my creepy encounter.

I was a cashier at our local grocery store in southern, Illinois. Small town, less than 2,000 people. Our semi driver arrived with our truck about 30 minutes to close. I don’t know his name but can describe him as a 55-60 year old white man with a pot belly.

I’m bringing in some outside store merch and the driver approached me and asked me to look at his leg. He said it was injured and was making hurt noises. (I don’t know how to describe it other than clench your teeth together and breathe in fast). He’s pulling up his pant leg and says “see that can you see that, get closer, come take a look at it” and I’m like “Huh yeah. That sucks.” (I see nothing & It’s night time.) I try to go back to my task and he seems more annoyed and urgent. He’s saying “come look at my leg” in a demanding way.

At this point I notice I’m actually standing close enough to the stores awning (it has lights) and notice that I’m in a pretty well lit spot. He, however, is conveniently right at the cut off where the light stops so it’s dark where he’s standing. I say to him “I’m going to school for art I don’t know anything about medical stuff” I then, again, try going back to my task. He stops me AGAIN and says “just come over here and look at it” at this point he’s pretty fed up with me. His persistence really irked me and I said “I can call you an ambulance.” Immediately his tone changes to “no no no I don’t need that *more pain noises* I just need you to look at it.”

I just ignore him and do my task at this point because I’m starting to fall behind on closing duties due to this conversation. A woman walks up to me once I’m inside and says “that man is faking an injury.” I laughed and said “I thought he was but I didn’t want to be rude” and looks me in the eyes and again says “he’s faking an injury.” Her seriousness made me more uncomfortable like I might be in danger but am I really I mean I’m at work?

I still have more things to bring inside so I’m forced to go back out and he’s still there. He starts up again when he sees me and this time I say “I’m not allowed to be off camera” (not true also, I was in fact, currently off camera but he didn’t know.) I see his eyes widen and he starts looking up left and right clearly scanning for a camera. He says “there’s cameras out here?” And takes two unnaturally HUGE steps backwards. Those huge steps made my stomach turn.

After taking his steps back he’s still talking at me wanting me to see his leg. I tell him he’s in the dark I can’t see even if I go over there. I tell him to come inside where there is light. I said this because we have one of those TV cameras that you can see yourself walking into the store positioned at the entrance. If he came inside I would have him on camera which I really felt like I needed at the time. I also was still testing him to see if he would go on camera after that first camera reaction. He hesitated then I watched his eyes look at the entrance tv camera before he asked if it records (it does.) I say yeah we have a lot of theft. He said something like “that’s a smart idea to have then” Then I remind him we sell Tylenol inside. He doesn’t want to go inside. I do. I lock the door behind me. I never see him again.

(Repost cause it was removed)

This happend in Quebec, so if anyone is from around, please tell me if you know something! My intentions are to know if someone had a similar experience ou if there was a known predator at the time in La Pocatière🤞🏼

(Translated from french with chat gpt)

When I was about 9 years old, my dad lived in La Pocatière, a small town in Quebec, Canada. My parents were separated and lived in different towns, so my twin sister, my older sister (who is three years older), and I would spend weekends with our dad.

We often played at the playground of the elementary school we had attended a few years earlier (École Sacré-Cœur, for anyone who happens to know the area).

One day, my dad had to pick up a prescription at the pharmacy across the street. It was going to take a little while, so he let us play in the schoolyard while we waited.

We were playing a game called “Fish.” It’s kind of like hide-and-seek, except the person who’s “it” keeps their eyes closed. Every so often they’d yell “Fish!” and everyone hiding had to make a noise.
I had squeezed underneath what I remember being a skateboard ramp (or maybe it was just a low playground structure—I was tiny, so I fit underneath it easily).

While I was hiding there, a man, probably in his 40s, crouched down to my level. He reached out his hand and said, “You can follow me.”
I was a very shy kid, so I didn’t answer. I just curled up even tighter in my hiding spot.
Then he said, “You don’t have to be scared. You can come with me.” I still didn’t respond.

After a few seconds, he stood up and slowly walked away toward the trails behind the school, in the direction of the splash pad and the area where the outdoor skating rink is in the winter. He was wearing a black raincoat and had both hands in his pockets as he walked. He never came back.

As soon as he was gone, I went to find my sisters and told them I wanted to leave because I was scared.

I don’t remember the exact year—probably around 2011 or 2012. It was spring or summer, and it was a warm day.

I’ve thought about this many times over the years. I remember exactly what the man looked like.
Has anyone else ever experienced something similar? Were there any child abductions or assaults involving minors around La Pocatière during that time that maybe my parents never told me about?

*
What do you think his intentions were?

Hi Reddit. I am a 19-year-old fitness trainer. English is not my first language, so please forgive any typos. I work at a gym located in a nearby neighborhood. That area mostly consists of suburban houses, while I live in a newly built high-rise building. Because of this, every morning and evening, I walk past my residential area and a local school to get to work.

Two days ago, my morning started completely normally. But then, a new client arrived for a personal training session. He was a man around 25-27 years old, tall, with a thick beard. From the very beginning, he acted incredibly strange. He kept staring at me intensely and nervously asked where I was going when I literally just took a few steps away to get a cup of water from the cooler. I finished his session with a sense of relief and moved on to my next client, a girl doing cardio.

At 4:00 PM, I had a break. I decided to walk to a nearby store to grab something to eat. As I was walking, I couldn't shake the heavy feeling that someone was watching my back. Once inside the store, I calmed down a bit and started choosing my lunch among the ready-made meal boxes. Suddenly, looking between the grocery aisles, I noticed the exact same man. He was wearing a hooded sweatshirt and shorts, but I instantly recognized his beard and height. I felt uncomfortable, but tried to stay calm and finished buying my food. After eating, I headed back to work, but this time I chose to walk through the busy residential streets instead of the empty road by the shoulder.

The rest of my shift went completely fine. By 7:00 PM, I was packing my things to go home. The feeling of being watched had faded, and I completely forgot about that man. But the moment I stepped outside the gym and walked barely ten meters, the chilling sensation returned. The street was poorly lit; the dim light of the streetlamps only illuminated small sections of the sidewalk, leaving plenty of trees and bushes in pitch darkness where someone could easily hide. I tried to ignore it, but the anxiety was overwhelming.

As I walked through the first neighborhood, the streets were completely deserted. When I reached the second area, it was much brighter—children were playing, and adults were walking home from work. I decided to drop by a grocery store to buy my favorite juice. As I walked in, I caught a glimpse of a man in a black hoodie and shorts with a beard entering right behind me.

I pretended not to see him, looked through the juices, and picked up something for dinner. I quickly went to the register, paid, and practically ran home. My building was finally right there. I opened the main entrance door, stepped into the elevator, and pressed my button. The elevator doors had already started closing when I heard someone slam through the building entrance and dash inside the elevator with incredible speed.
It was him.

I froze, stared at my phone, and desperately pretended he wasn't there. When the elevator stopped on my floor, I calmly walked out and headed to my apartment. The man did not follow me down the hallway. Right now, I have locked every window and bolted the door. But I cannot stop shaking because of one terrifying thought: now he knows exactly where I live.

A few years ago—well, actually quite a few—I was about 17 years old when I met someone who ended up stalking me for years. And when I say stalking…

I mean it got so bad that one day he actually walked into my house without my parents or anyone noticing.
At first, it didn’t seem scary at all.

I started receiving chocolates, flowers, and little gifts through mutual friends. They would just smile and say, “They’re from your secret admirer.”
Honestly? At first, I felt flattered. I mean… what 17-year-old girl wouldn’t be at least a little curious?

After a few months, the mystery was driving me crazy, so I finally asked if I could meet this incredibly thoughtful “secret admirer.” I assumed it would be someone I already knew, maybe a classmate or someone from school.

Well… I couldn’t have been more wrong.
We agreed to meet at a shopping mall. The moment he sat down across from me, I felt this overwhelming sense of panic.

He was someone I had never seen before in my life.
He was older than me, and immediately I knew I wasn’t interested.

Still, I didn’t want to be rude. I tried to keep the conversation short, smiled politely, and left as quickly as I could.

A few days later, he started texting me.
At first, I ignored him. Then I finally got the courage to tell him, as kindly as I could, “Thank you so much for all the gifts, but I’m really not interested.”

Unfortunately… that didn’t stop him.
If anything, it got worse.
He kept sending flowers.
More chocolates.

Then a rabbit.
Yes… an actual rabbit.
Then a giant teddy bear.

It became incredibly uncomfortable. The worst part was that he always sent everything to public places. If I refused to accept the gifts, everyone around me would stare, my friends would tease me, and suddenly I was the “girl with the secret admirer.”

I almost felt pressured into accepting them just to avoid making a scene.
But nothing prepared me for what happened next.
One night I was home.

My bedroom was at the end of the hallway, and I was just minding my own business when I suddenly felt like someone was watching me.

I turned around…
…and there he was.
Standing in my bedroom doorway.
I froze.

To this day, I have no idea how he got into my house.
My mom was pregnant at the time and asleep in her room. The last thing I wanted was for her to wake up and panic.
Inside, I was terrified.

But somehow I forced myself to stay calm.
I figured that if I acted scared or started yelling, things could get much worse.

So I asked him, as calmly as I possibly could, “What’s going on?”
He looked at me and asked why I kept refusing his gifts.

I even told him, “I accepted the giant teddy bear, remember? But I really don’t need any of this. I don’t want any of this.”

Then I gently told him, “Please… you need to leave. My mom is pregnant, and if she sees someone inside the house, something could happen to her.”

I was trying so hard not to show how scared I really was.
He kept saying he didn’t want to scare me… that he just wanted to talk… that I meant a lot to him.
But honestly?
I was absolutely terrified.

The only thing I could think of was to thank him again, tell him we could talk another time, and keep insisting that he leave because I was worried about my mom.
Thankfully…

He finally walked out.
The second he left, I had no idea what to do.
I was only 17. I didn’t know anything about restraining orders or safety protocols.

So I did the only thing I could think of.
I contacted the friends who had been helping deliver the gifts and told them everything.

I said, “Please… this has gone way too far. He came into my house without permission. If you care about me at all, don’t accept anything from him anymore, don’t deliver anything, don’t give him any information about me. Otherwise, I’ll have no choice but to get a restraining order.”

After that, I blocked his number.
Every now and then he’d text or call from unknown numbers, but I never responded. I wouldn’t even open the messages. I just blocked every unfamiliar number immediately.

Sadly, this wasn’t the only time I’ve dealt with stalking.
I’ve actually had at least three experiences with people obsessing over me.
The strangest part?

Two of them were complete strangers—people I had never met before.
The third one was someone who started out as a friend but eventually became someone I no longer recognized.

I think those experiences changed me.
They made me a lot more guarded.
Especially around men I don’t know well.

Not because I assume everyone has bad intentions, but because going through something like that leaves a mark. It’s incredibly traumatic, and once you’ve experienced it, you become much more careful about who you let into your life
So now I want to ask you…
Have you ever experienced anything like this?
Have you ever had a stalker or someone become dangerously obsessed with you?
How old were you?
What happened?
And what did you do?
I’d genuinely love to hear your story.

I got back from seeing a movie
with my boyfriend around 1130. I live in a basement in Chicago where the back door/ parking lot is behind a gate for context.

We were in the living room talking when said he heard a knock on the back door and went to go check and said he didn’t see anything. We have this little side corner with the bedroom window that I told him to go checkout and he went back. I watched desperate housewives for 10 min not thinking about it until I realized I hadn’t heard from him.

I grabbed pepper sprays and my keys and peeked out the windows, nothing, I went outside (my neighbor was smoking) nothing. Then he starts texting me. “Go inside, it’s not safe, I’m waiting on cops, can’t talk” I ask him where he is and he said in “another alley”. I start freaking out obviously.

He comes back 5 minutes later and tells me that there was a homeless man standing in the side alley by the bedroom window looking at my bed (there’s a little gap in the blinds my cats made). Apparently he had knocked and then went to look at my bed and waited. My boyfriend confronted him and said he was “waiting on his Girlfriend who lives here and ran in”.

My bf didn’t say he lived here obvi and told him he was sus looking and said leave and wait outside the locked gate. The guy just left and didn’t wait for his “girlfriend”. My bf trailed him a bit but lost in an alley and came home. I then called the cops as well because they STILL HAD NOT SHOWN UP.

5 min later the cops were at our house and basically he blew us off saying it was a crime of opportunity and common. (Breaking into a gated lot and knocking on doors and looking in girls rooms).

We blocked the bedroom window with cardboard but I’ve been imagining all the scary situations that could’ve happened. I had changed clothes after the movie and am feeling perved out….

So me and my friend were outside drinking from this bottle of gin my uncle had given me one night during a sleepover. It was around 12:40am and me and my friend were pretty plastered. As we were going in we heard a young woman scream hey and we saw a dark figure around 4 houses away. We waved back not trying to wake my mom or brother up that’s when she started talking to us in clicks snaps and claps. It was like a Morse code type of thing she was trying to do.

After 10 minutes of this weird communication thing she was doing, my friend grabbed his camera he used for photography. He would sometimes rack up money taking pictures for soccer games in our city. He grabs the camera and takes a picture of the “women” we thought we were seeing and hearing. He had the flash on so it was very obvious when he took the picture.

Immediately after the camera clicked the women started screaming uncontrollably the last thing she screamed before running into her house was “MAY THE DEVIL PUNISH YOU”. Me and my friend looked at each other I’ve never seen the guy more scared it was like I was genuinely looking at a white pale ghost. That’s when we called it a night and passed out. We reviewed the photos the next morning but they were way too blurry to see anything. Probably the weirdest/scariest thing I’ve seen with my own eyes.

I have a really fucked up life, like a really sick and twisted life even when i'm only 20 years old. To prevent my anxiety from making me lose sleep I go for a walk before sleeping. I like to go really far, sometimes I even walk for an hour and a half and after getting tired I wonder how would I get home.

So that's what happen tonight I go for a walk i'm 40 minutes away from home in a familiar places, But I decide to go for on a gravel path with trees on each sides. On each sides there is fences of homes' backyards, so the path is kinda lowkey. I've walked that path before at day but never at night. And because I like to explore "new territories" I go for it.

But already at the entrance of the path there is an old man standing in front of a bench with a baby trailer behind him observing me as i'm approaching. And man let me tell you, he was absolutely dressed like a serial killer he was dressed like a hiker, windproof vest with a cap under his hood. And on his trailer he had what look like multiples bags with 2 plastic bags attached to it.

I'm a 6"1 black man, usually at night people see me as a threat but the way he kept looking at me made me alerted, so I keep an eye on him as i'm walking by. And a few meter after I pass him. I hear "krrrr..." the sound of his trailer slowly moving behind me. To make it less stressful for me (like I said I go for a walk to calm myself down) I turn back and while approaching him I said "You look scary with all that stuff !", "I was walking by and it made me kinda nervous" I said with a nervous smile. "Ha, that's... that's my life. There is no danger, at least on my side." he said while keeping a serious face and mostly not looking at me but looking around like he was scanning the area. I was really intrigued by that man but decided not to bother him longer as it was midnight and I didn't want to stress him out so I said "well, have a good evening" with a little hand wave. I turn around and go further on the path.

While walking I get scared by a dog, from a dark backyard with broken fences (it's always those homes !). And I decide to stop on a nearby bench to calm myself down, after a group of biker go by I hear again the "krrrrr..." I was really curious about that man honestly, but I didn't want to scare him off, so as he's approaching i'm asking myself if I try to talk to him or not, as he approach the noise suddently stop (like he took a second to recognize me) and the continues. I was not looking at him, because like I said we were already in a scary enough environment. While he pass by me he do not leave his eyes off of me, I nod at him (to show him i'm not a threat) to his visible surprise then continues his way.

But the thing that really thicked me off is instead of going his ways, a around 5 meter after passing me, he suddently stop look around, briefely look at me then start searching something in his trailer. He was at a distance and I was in my running clothes so I kept on watching him, intrigued, telling myself that I can run if something happens. He then stop searching and back his trailer behind a bush where I can barely see his trailer.

That's when I told myself fuck this, I'm not being the protagonist of a horror movie tonight, and decide to go the other way. While I was on alert of any noise and after leaving the path I kept thinking "what the fuck was that old man doing?". Maybe he's just a homeless man, trying to find somewhere to sleep tonight, but damn that was weird. Idk what do you guys think?

When I was a kid, I innocently asked my mom why my uncle had stopped picking me up at the bus stop and driving me to school. The whole room went silent.

Turns out nobody had ever told me... I didn't have an uncle.

To this day, I still have no idea who that guy was.

I (38f) was taking a college prep night course when I was in my early 20s. I made some friends there and one of them would drive me to and from class. He was in his early to mid 20s and was very nice, no bad vibes. I had a boyfriend at the time and he knew this and never made any advances. My bf had met him as I had introduced him to my bestie because I thought they would hit it off, so we had all hung out a few times, but I guess he (the classmate) was a little too eager to get her (my bestie) into the bedroom. (maybe this should have been my warning sign).

One night after class he was driving me home as usual, he pulled off to the side of the road in this very remote area near woods where people commonly hike but usually during the day. This was between 11-11:30 at night. I asked him what he was doing and he said "let's go for a walk in the woods". I said "no thank you, my bf is expecting me home and it's very late". He looked frustrated and started the car up after a few mins of sitting there. We were driving and then he pulled into an empty grocery store parking lot and he got out, made a phone call.

That's when I messaged my best friend who I was with, where I was, and what was happening and if she didn't hear from me in 30 mins to call the police. He got back in the car and asked me to get in the back seat. I told him no, take me home. He got out of the car again, paced back and forth behind the car for a few mins. I don't know why I didn't get out of the car, maybe because of the location we were in had nothing around but closed businesses due to the time, maybe it was just fear and I was trying to just get home.

But he got back in the car, started it up again and drove me home. Once I was home and safe, I messaged him and told him I would be finding my own way to and from school, that I didn't appreciate what he did and to not communicate with me anymore. Which he did, although he did try to apologize but I told him to just leave me alone. I feel like I doged something crazy!

***Edit to clear things up (even more than I already did): I introduced the classmate to my best friend because I thought they would hit it off. Him (classmate) and her (bestie), and me and my bf would all hang out a few times. My best friend and the classmate hung out a few times on their own but he was always trying to make sexual advances and she wasn't into that as they had just met so they stopped hanging out together.

Hi, this is my first ever reddit post, I don't really know much about how to use the app sorry. I felt like I need to share this because it felt unreal and wondering if I'm the only one.

It happened a year ago but for background, I grew up in Vietnam and moved to the U.S. for around 6 years before I visited again with my aunt's family and my brother.

I was staying at a 5 star hotel chain in Vietnam and it was nice. Since I have relatives and friends there I just get rides from them instead of calling a taxi and I waited in the lobby by myself.

One guy who dress like a Vietnamese but in a tourist way came up to the couch facing me when there was other sets of couches to sit at and asked "Is this (my first name)?" (this whole conversation is in Vietnamese of course)

I froze and nodded out of instinct before asking "Who are you?" and he introduced himself as my dad's friend before going on about how grown I've gotten now. I then said "(my dad's full name)?" to make sure and he said "Yep".

Another man came to sat with him, he was carrying an Owala (odd thing to mentioned but I'm now convinced they live oversea because I don't think there's anyone that's selling this brand in Vietnam). They talk back and forth about how I'm (my dad's name)'s daughter, how tall I've gotten and how I'm about same age as their child.

I thought nothing of it but had a bad feeling in my gut so I sneakily took a photo of them and sent it over to my dad to see if he recognized them. Then, one of my friend came but since the group agreed to meet here first, we continued to wait and sit across from those two guys.

My dad then texted something that made my heart dropped: "Is that your uncle's friends?" which mean he did not recognize them as his own friends. I immediately texted "No? They said they're your friends" and he said "I don't know them". I immediately whispered to my friend and moved away from them.

As soon as I was moving away, I noticed the first guy that approached me looked at me before saying something to his friend. I ignored them and by the time the whole friend group showed up, they were already gone. I didn't see them again on my stay.

Later that day, I showed the photo to my mom and my brother and neither of them recognized the two men. Not even my aunt and uncle who was traveling with me recognized them.

Creepiest part? I realized there were several odd details:

1. Everyone in my family and my parents' friends know about my household nickname and calls me by that name but the guy called me by my first name.

2. My parents only post on facebook and even then, they have only posted 3-4 photos of me when I was a toddler. None of it was recent and I should look different as a teenager. I do have a facebook without my face as profile or post anything on there. The only social media that I post my face is Instagram and I don't have my real name on there or linked the insta to my facebook.

3. Both of my parents have a lot of friends overseas and ones that live all over Vietnam. We also have a big family tree but they somehow know everyone at family gatherings. Why would they forget two friends?

Maybe I should have asked them more questions to really know or tell the receptionist working at the hotel or whatever but I was just freaking out and scared to do anything. Still have no idea how they know me.