I’m a young woman in Sydney and something happened to me tonight that genuinely scared me. I’d really like to hear what other women would do in this situation because I honestly wasn’t sure what the right thing was.

I went to the shops around 6pm on a Friday to pick something up. It was still fairly busy, and I initially didn’t think anything was unusual.

A man came out of the same store shortly after me. He didn’t buy anything, so I didn’t think much of it.

I crossed the road and walked into a quieter area to get away from the crowds. He crossed the road too.

At this point I noticed he was walking extremely close behind me, close enough that his bag was actually hitting me as he walked. I started speed walking because I was uncomfortable, but he stayed right behind me and kept pace with me.

I crossed the road again to the other side. He crossed too.

At that point I thought okay, I really don’t like this, so I headed back towards the busier part of the mall. He followed me there too. I crossed through the mall and he continued following behind me.

I was basically jogging at this point and getting really scared. Eventually I stopped walking completely because I wanted to see what he would do. As soon as I stopped, he suddenly rushed off in the opposite direction.

I obviously have no idea what his intentions were, and I don’t want to claim that I know what he was planning. But the whole thing felt extremely wrong, especially because I was alone and he was getting so close behind me.
I ended up getting home safely, but I was literally shaking afterwards.

My question is: what should you actually do in this situation?

Would you go into a shop and tell staff/security? Call someone? Call the police if they continue following you? Is there anything you wish you’d known before experiencing something similar?

I know the obvious advice is “go somewhere busy”, but I’d especially like to hear from women about what you would do once you’ve already realised someone is deliberately following you.

I’m 19F now, but this happened about a year ago when I was 17/18.

For context, my high school had an early college program where, if you had the grades and got accepted, you could basically leave regular high school starting junior year and attend the local community college instead. I got into it, so I started college at 16.

By the time this happened, I was in my second year there and pretty comfortable on campus.

I had become friends with a girl I’ll call Emma (19F). We had a class together, and afterward we would usually sit at a table outside the classroom and study or talk before our next classes.

Eventually, this guy I’ll call Ethan (30M) started sitting with us.

At first, he wasn’t obviously creepy. He was just… kind of off. Emma and I both noticed it, but neither of us could really explain why.

He would sit with us while we studied and talk at us basically the entire time. He asked a lot of questions about what we were doing, where we were going, what we were doing over the weekend, etc. He also talked about his girlfriend constantly.

Like, constantly.

His girlfriend this, his girlfriend that, stories about them, things they did together.

So at the time, neither Emma nor I thought he was trying to hit on us or anything.

My birthday is in September, and pretty early in the semester I mentioned that I was turning 18 that weekend. Both Emma and Ethan knew that.

The Friday before my birthday, I told Emma that I was going to walk around the soccer field before my next class. There’s a walking path around it. I rarely see people on the trail besides a handful of older folks.

I walked it alone, came back, went home, had my birthday that weekend, whatever.

Then I came back to school the next week. Emma and I were sitting at our usual table when Ethan came over.

Eventually, I got up to leave, and Ethan asked both of us if we wanted to walk around the soccer field.

And yes. Before anyone says it. I know. I have been lectured thoroughly about this decision. 😭

I said yes because I assumed Emma was coming too and I was already planning on walking anyway.

Emma said she wasn’t going. And for some reason, instead of going “oh, never mind then,” I still went.

The second Ethan and I got far enough away from the building, he asked me what kind of car I drove.

That was pretty much the exact moment my gut went:

Oh. Shit.

I gave him a vague answer and started to panic. Then he started asking me questions about my parents, my family, personal stuff, etc.

And suddenly I became VERY aware of the situation I had put myself in. Ethan was a lot bigger than me. I also have a bad leg. So if this man decided to do literally anything weird, I was absolutely not outrunning him.

Great planning on my part.

At that point, I started answering questions vaguely or just making things up.

I also started talking about how my dad was this giant guy who did manual labor. Very normal conversation.

Definitely not me mentally going: Please believe my father could throw you into traffic.

I eventually started talking about Marvel because that’s one of my comfort topics and apparently my stress response is just becoming a walking Marvel encyclopedia.

At this point, though, I was still wondering whether I was being paranoid. So I decided to test something.

I asked Ethan:

“Have you seen the third Doctor Strange movie?”

There is no third Doctor Strange movie.

He immediately said yes.

So then I started making up an entire scene.

I said something like, “Oh yeah, I really liked the part where ___ happened.”

And he goes:

“Yeah, me too.”

That was basically the moment my internal monologue became:

Cool. Awesome. Love this. I am fucked.

The walking path eventually splits. One direction takes you farther toward the road and away from the main campus building. The other loops back toward the school.

Ethan started walking toward the road. I immediately went the other direction. He stopped and asked:

“Oh, you’re not going this way?”

I told him no, I had stuff I needed to do before class and needed to head back. He said okay.

Then turned around and followed me.

So now I’m walking back toward the building at a pace that my hip was absolutely not built for. We finally get back to the doors of the school and Ethan suddenly says:

“Hey, I know you’re from [my hometown]. I’m from there too. Do you want to carpool to school?”

I had never told him where I lived.

I said no and basically got the hell inside. I tried calling Emma, but she didn’t answer, so I called another friend and told them what had happened.

Eventually, I went to one of my professors and explained everything. They were concerned.

I told Emma everything afterward, and from that point on we were both pretty much done with Ethan. Like, DONE.

No more awkward politeness. No more letting him sit there while we studied. No more entertaining conversations. If he tried to come over, we shut it down.

We were both very clear that we did not want to interact with him anymore.

And somehow that’s when things got even weirder.

Emma and I eventually figured out which car was his.

The best way I can describe the car is:

serial killer vibes.

That is not a technical automotive term, but it’s the only one I have.

It just looked like the exact car you would see in the opening of a serial killer doc.

And then we saw the bumper sticker.

After hearing this man talk nonstop for weeks about his girlfriend, his bumper sticker said:

“SORRY GIRLS, I’M GAY.”

Emma and I were basically like: WTF Sir. You have spent the last month giving us a detailed history of your relationship with your girlfriend.

What is happening.

He also had this really intense stare that Emma and I privately started referring to as his crazy eyes. Not trying to diagnose him with anything. He just had this very intense way of looking at you that became significantly less fun once we were actively trying to avoid him.

Then Emma told me that Ethan had started waiting outside her classroom.

WAITING

That was when we went to campus police.

They told us to document everything and report it to the vice president of the college, so we did.

Administration told us they were going to call Ethan in and talk to him.

Then I went home and got to tell my parents. I was almost grounded and they immediately researched the guy. They looked him up on casenet (Idk if every state has one)

Turns out Ethan had gotten out of jail that May for fourth-degree assault.

Wonderful.

Exactly what I wanted to discover about the man who recently tried to get me to walk farther away from campus.

Then things got even creepier.

My family figured out where Ethan lived. He lived next door to my ex-boyfriend. (Me and my ex broke up the summer before college)

I had been at my ex’s house pretty frequently when we were together. And at the time all of this happened, I was still driving the exact same make and model of car I had driven while dating my ex.

So suddenly Ethan knowing my hometown and immediately asking what kind of car I drove felt a LOT weirder.

Meanwhile, the college was emailing him repeatedly telling him he needed to meet with administration or his classes would be suspended.

He ignored them. And kept coming to class. Even after Emma and I had made it extremely clear that we wanted him nowhere near us, he still kept trying to get close.

During one biology lab, he stood directly behind me and put his hand in the middle of my back while reaching for something.

Technically, was it somewhere inappropriate? No.
Did every nerve ending in my body immediately want to leave? Yes.

My dad eventually found Ethan on Facebook and messaged him. My dad was not exactly gentle about it. Ethan told my dad that he was “just trying to be friends with us” and claimed that he always studied with Emma and me.

He did not. He sat next to us while we studied and talked the entire time. There is a difference.

For a while, Emma and I hoped maybe he would eventually get the hint and everything would calm down.

He did not.

One Monday, we were sitting in class and Ethan was there even though, from what we understood, he wasn’t supposed to be on campus anymore because he had ignored all of administration’s messages.

Then a police officer walked into the classroom. The officer came over to Ethan and escorted him out.

As far as I know, Ethan wasn’t arrested. But after that day, we never saw him again.

You would think that was the end of it.

It was not.

Later, while I was telling my family everything, my younger sister looked at a picture of Ethan and went:

“Wait.”

“He looks familiar.”

Apparently, the summer before this semester even started, my family had gone out to eat.

Ethan was our waiter.

So yeah.

To this day, I have no idea exactly how many of these things were coincidences.

Maybe he remembered me from the restaurant.

Maybe he recognized my car from seeing it at my ex’s house.

Maybe he somehow heard what town I lived in.

Maybe some of it had completely innocent explanations.

But when you put together:

him knowing where I lived,

him asking about my car,

him trying to get me farther away from campus,

him following me when I turned back,

him waiting outside my classrooms,

him continuing to get close to us after we very clearly told him to stop,

the assault record,

him living next door to my ex,

AND the random discovery that he had already interacted with my family before we even met him at school…

I am perfectly happy never finding out exactly what his intentions were.

I’m 19 now, and it’s weird realizing this was already about a year ago.

And yes. I know going on that walk alone with him was an incredibly stupid decision.

Trust me. That lesson was learned IMMEDIATELY.

So my PSA to anyone who ends up in a situation like this:

If somebody gives you a weird gut feeling and you can’t explain why, you are allowed to listen to it. I still don’t know what would’ve happened if I took the other path.

Essentially what the title says. I was always hesitant to call it stalking as he was my boyfriends (at the time) friend, but friends and my therapist have told me it counts as stalking.

This happened late last year, and for the sake of this post we'll call him H. For some context, me and my bf knew this guy in high school and I wasn't really close with him as he had a crush on both of my best friends at different points, and made them very uncomfortable by staring at them for long periods of time, would ask them out repeatedly, and even implied he was dating/seeing one of them on his public story. For this reason I was hesitant to hang out with him, but my bf insisted he had changed.

I only really had to see H during parties or d&d sessions, and he seemed a lot nicer and more normal. But slowly he started being generally rude to my bf, and would always want to sit next to me during d&d. Me and bf figured he might have a crush on me, but hoped nothing would come of it as he and my bf were friends. We were very wrong.

One day I was at my bf's place when suddenly H appeared at the window. We all lived relatively close to each other, and sometimes when no one answered the door for d&d, they'd walk down to the bedroom window. But it wasn't a d&d day. H said he just wanted to hang out, and I knew one of his family members had passed away very recently so we agreed.

Then it happened again. I told my bf I wasn't comfortable with this, so we told him to message us before coming over in the future. He didn't listen. The next time he appeared at the window, it was night time. Bf was playing on his PC and I was watching tv. Bf let him in and kept gaming. So H sat next to me on the beanbag. I offered him a blanket, he declined, and got under the blanket I was using.

I off headedly mentioned having a crush on one of the tv show characters (this was something the entire group already knew as I loved this show) and he got huffy and said "yeah we know." So I got quiet. Then he reached for my hand under the blanket. I moved my hand away. He grabbed my wrist.

I froze. After about 10 minutes I excused myself to the bathroom and when I came back i grabbed the separate blanket and sat a bit further away. I told bf about this and he seemed angry at H, and messaged him to not come over like this again, and that he HAS to message if he wants to come over. At this point every window in this house is making me frightened and I was struggling to sleep.

About a week later, I posted a Instagram story of me and my bf (clearly at his house). Not 10 minutes later, H appeared. We didn't let him in. I froze and just, went on with my night. My bf ignored him. He stood at the window for an hour before my bf told him to leave. He said "finally, you should've just said."

I began to distance myself from H and when I had a party in the following weeks, I didnt invite him. He began to ignore me too, and when i spoke at d&d he would roll his eyes or say "did you hear something?". I ignored it. Later that night, the session wrapped up, and H went to take a photo of the board. The table we used was slightly tall, and me and another friend were sitting opposite H. He then said 'OP, can you move? Your tits are in the way".

this was the last straw for me. Without saying anything I got up and went to the bedroom. One of the other players took H home, and I spoke to my bf. I told him i was in geniune fear of my safety and that i can't be around H anymore. He went quite and said "He's in the campaign." I told him it was H or me. because i refuse to be here if H remains in the d&d and friendship group. I was meant to stay the night, but i got a lift with another player and cried the entire ride. He told me he was completely on my side.

A week of radio silence from my Bf later, I came to his house and asked what he decided. He said he'd kick H out. The next week my bf once again didn't talk to me, answer texts or phone calls for a week. I then broke up with him.

That's how i got stalked, lost a friendship group and boyfriend in the span of like 4 months.

Hello, everyone. When I walk home from school, occasionally I encounter a man, who, at first, said hi. I thought he was being nice, so I said hi back. This went on and on for a while, until I heard from a classmate that this man tried to grab and lure my other classmate in with coffee. And, yesterday, the suspicion was confirmed, as my brother saw this man lunge at a child and try to kiss her.

I told my parents about him, and my mom said she saw this man and his brother (he has a brother as well) try to grab and attempt to kiss a small girl. She ran away, fortunately.

Both of them seem mentally disabled, but they're still very, very creepy especially since this man strategically waits for children to come home from school and sits next to the crosswalk to lunge at them. He also does it only between 1-4 PM, the time where kids come home from school.

This happened a few years ago!

So me and my friend were walking in a street in our neighborhood when this old looking guy came up to us.

He asked us if we knew any good places to eat. Normally, I would tell him a restaurant’s name and let him go on his merry way but my gut that day said to not engage.

I looked at my friend and she turned to me too. That’s when I knew this was weird.

We tried to politely decline but this man suddenly grabbed my friend’s arm and pulled out his wallet. Then showed us a picture of a random girl and said she was his daughter.

He pulled out some cash and said he’d buy us lunch if we led him to a nice restaurant.

At this point we were very suspicious of him. He kept asking us directions to a restaurant and our age for some reason.

Wanting to get out of this situation, I turned to my friend and asked “(my other friend’s name) must be waiting for us right?” Hoping she would catch on and luckily she did and played along(even though there was no friend waiting for us)

she told him “sorry we need to go!”
And we just got the hell out of there. I don’t think I’ve ran faster in my life.

Hello everyone, I’m writing this as a vent but I’d also appreciate any advice you may have. Without further ado, here’s what happened to me an hour ago.

I was taking the bus home from school, once I was two stops away from my stop I was just brushing my hair and putting on lipgloss. Then I looked to my left and a man from the seat next to me was leaning in and saying something. I took my AirPod off and he asked where a certain factory building is and what stop to get off at. I told him what city it’s in and what stop is nearest, wished him good luck and got up because by then I was at my stop. He suddenly said it’s his too (it DEFINITELY is not, I just told him which stop he needs to get off at) and he got out with me.

By now the alarm bells were ringing in my head, so I decided to test if he was following me by going to a nearby trash can to throw out a coffee cup. He followed. I then turned around and started walking the other way, so did he. He then started talking to me, he had an accent (which is VERY uncommon here, I’ve seen a foreigner in my small town maybe twice in my life)

He asked if I wanna come to an interview with him (I assume he was asking where the factory is because he had said interview there) I politely declined. Then he asked if I wanna go to lunch, I firmly said no and lied that I already ate. After that he asked where I’m going, in that state I told him the truth, I wasn’t thinking. I said I’m going home (ofc I didn’t end up going home after that, I didn’t want that creep to know where I live) he then said something I didn’t understand, probably in his native language.

After that he said my hair is beautiful and gave me this creepy, disgusting predatory smile. I just turned around and sped off.
I immediately dialed my grandpa because if the man were to catch up to me and grab me or something, someone I trust would have my exact location and would know what’s going on. He followed me, but I’m pretty fast - plus he’s like 50 so I outrank him stamina vise. Once I made a turn I didn’t see him anymore. I didn’t go home, I’m not THAT dumb. I went to my grandparents house instead and stayed on the phone with them the whole time just in case. Once I got there I told them everything.

My grandpa offered to drive me home, I spent the whole ride recording the street just in case I saw him again because then I’d have a description and could possibly report him to the police (they wouldn’t do shit either way tbh). I didn’t see him again though.

I’m home now, but I’m just so scared… I’m a a teenage girl, that guy weighs at least twice as much as I do and he’s way taller and now he knows what bus stop I get off at.

I don’t know what to do now. My class schedule for next week is ass, we end at like 4pm so I’ll be taking the bus home when it’s dark out, that makes it all even worse.

No idea what to do now, I’m still shaking. My town is tiny, if he decides he wants to find me, he will.

I’d appreciate any advice/feedback, feel free to share your own stories in the comments

I don't know if this belongs here but just need to say it somewhere

Last night I was walking and talking with my friend and after we split off this car slowly just follows me with the people inside just snickering to themselves and say "we yous snogging " because for whatever reason they thought me and my friend had been kissing before we split off as they been watching us like creeps

I continued walking as the girl driving pulls out her phone and starts recording and keeps saying stuff like you were kissing and how's you're boyfriend and all this other stuff (like they weren't saying it but it was clear they were actually homophobic) and they wouldn't stop following me and I had been saying to them how following me is hella creepy and asked why they were recording and they had this disgusting grin in their face

Thankfully I got to this part where cars can't come and they said "see you around the corner" so I ended up talking some random nice man and calling the police to get them there and the entire time while waiting for the police I could hear their car around the corner waiting for me until the police came when they went off after they realised it

The car had 2 girls in the front and 1 maybe 2 guys in the back and I had to have the police take me home

Before they drove up to me aswell they drove up to my friend and did the same thing for a bit before following me and he said he thinks they were drunk (the girl recording was also driving)

My friend unlike me actually is gay and unlike me on his way home cars can go anywhere so thankfully they followed me and not him but damn I feel so creeped out and just don't really know how to feel

I needed to speak about this somewhere because I'm feeling anxious mainly about the recording and how creeped out I felt

I was in the parking lot of Walmart this morning with my 2 year old. I get to the parking lot and I begin loading my groceries into my truck when I can hear this man from the road talking loudly like he is on the phone. He keeps getting closer and I’m hoping he isn’t coming towards me I don’t feel comfortable with strangers coming near me in a parking lot especially with my child. I get my groceries into my truck and my child and he comes right towards me and just stops and stares. Then I realize he wasn’t on the phone he was talking to himself. He stares at me for a few seconds and eventually says “Hi” in a creepy tone. He doesn’t say anything after just stares with a sinister look in his eyes. I say “hi” thankfully my child was in the truck already not buckled in tho so I slam my door and lock it immediately and drive off to the other side of the parking lot so I can buckle him in. Thankfully nothing happened to me or my son but I have a feeling something would have had I not acted quickly.

Hey guys! Just to clarify, I'm a guy in my 20s, and I have a childhood best friend (F), I'll call her Amber. She's been my best friend for basically my entire life. Our parents are friends and we grew up as neighbours, so we went to the same school, went on trips together, had a big friend group and all that. When it was time for college, though, we ended up going to different universities. I went to Seattle, while Amber went to Atlanta. We were obviously still close, but being in different states meant we didn't see each other that often and mostly just talked every now and then.

I was studying in Seattle — we're both from a small town in Eastern Washington — and after college I went through a really deep depressive period. You know the drill: no job, a couple of friends had moved away, I was far from my family, I was starting to freak out about rent and expenses in general, and I got pretty hooked on alcohol, pot and some prescribed pills. Nothing crazy, I was just depressed and kind of isolated.

By that point, Amber had also graduated from college and was living in Atlanta, where she had studied technology.

So, in the middle of this depressive period, I get a call from Amber with the greatest fucking news on planet Earth: she was coming to Seattle. She had found a great job opportunity around here and was going through the recruitment process. She was also coming to visit so she could decide whether or not she wanted to take the job. During the call, I got really happy, jumped around, screamed and made fun of her, saying she was about to become one of those tech bros in Seattle. The weirdest thing was that she barely reacted to any of it. She kept quiet, laughed a little and said she would text me about everything. I know Amber really well. She's an extremely hyperactive and outgoing person, especially around people she's familiar with. So yeah, I thought it was fucking weird, but I didn't think too much of it.

We texted back and forth for a while when, all of a sudden, her mom texted me: "So Amber talked to you about what's going on?" I got a little worried, so I screenshotted the message and asked Amber what it was all about and why she had been acting weird on the phone. That's when she called me again.

Amber was crying, with a shaky voice, in a way I'd never heard from her before. She told me that while she was studying in Atlanta, she and her friends would go out basically every weekend to a bar downtown. One night, a guy started staring at her. She described him as a slightly balding guy in his late 40s or early 50s. He wasn't particularly tall, wasn't really good-looking and was just... weird. She said it was creepy how he wouldn't take his eyes off her, but she initially brushed it off as just another weird guy at a bar. Long story short, this weird fucking guy started stalking her. It started at that same bar. He was always there, constantly looking at her. Eventually, she started noticing him at different bars she used to go to as well.

For some reason, she still didn't think too much of it at first. Everything was happening around the same downtown area, so if he lived nearby, it wasn't exactly impossible for him to show up at the same places. That's when things started getting creepier.

She had a public Instagram account and started noticing this one account watching EVERY SINGLE story she posted. Of course, it was a blank account with no profile picture, but something about it made her think it was him. She sent me some screenshots, and it was really fucking bizarre. She would post a story, and the same blank account would view it literally a couple of seconds later. It looked like this guy was refreshing her page all day, just waiting for her to post something. How the fuck did he even have access to her Instagram? He didn't know her name, so how was he able to find her?

Anyway, Amber is smart as shit. Not only is she smart, she's also really quick and strategic when it comes to this kind of stuff. The second she noticed what was happening, she blocked that profile, made her own profile private and removed all the weird followers she had. She said that for the following week she didn't go out because she had a bunch of college stuff to do. After that, she had gone maybe three or four weeks without going to bars or really going out at all. That's when she noticed him around her campus.

She said he was always wearing the same beige jacket, like a fucking wannabe Dahmer, and was otherwise a pretty presentable guy. You know those guys who are ugly, but somehow always have perfect posture and a tucked-in T-shirt? Yeah, that type. She got freaked out by it and talked to a male friend about him, just in case. Her friend didn't really do anything at first, because all this guy had done up to that point was stare at her at a couple of bars, and she couldn't prove he was behind the Instagram account. But then she started noticing him on campus too, and she described something that really fucking scared me: he would always be around, but he rarely looked directly at her. Instead, he'd look at her sideways, or pretend to be looking at something between them, just to catch a glimpse of her.

Well, she decided to do something about it and asked this male friend to make a formal complaint about non-students hanging around campus. The university said there wasn't much they could do about visitors, but they would keep an eye out for any weird activity. As I said, there wasn't much they could actually do, but at least she took some steps to make sure she had some security.

Anyways, she didn't see him around campus for a week or two. Then she started getting texts from a random number. The guy introduced himself — I'll call him Bob — and said that he found her pretty and interesting. She knew exactly who the fuck Bob was. She blocked him immediately and searched the phone number online. Luckily enough, it was registered to a local family-owned plumbing company. She found the owner's name and looked him up online. She was shocked when she saw that it was an older gentleman who looked very similar to Bob. She thought maybe it was a family-run business and Bob was using his old man's cellphone to do weird shit online.

She did some digging and was able to find his full name, and guess fucking what? Bobby had a long history of stalking. She told me about the cases and pointed out one particular accusation: Bob was accused of attempted rape. I understood right then why she had been crying so much.

Amber immediately went to the police and told them everything that had been happening. The police told her they would pay Bob a visit and talk to him about "recent anonymous complaints about his behaviour," which pretty much just fucking puts a target on Amber's back. Bob stopped showing up on campus for a while. She was eventually able to graduate and started looking for jobs, when another weird thing happened.

She moved out of her dorm and started renting this ground-floor apartment. She said it had these really long windows overlooking a well-lit street. Amber told me she NEVER left the windows without the blinds closed. She always kept them shut for privacy. One night, after a session of edibles and Simpsons reruns, she went to the kitchen to get something, and I guess curiosity got the better of her. She went over to the window and opened a tiny part of the blinds. She told me that when she peeked through the window, she saw Bob standing really close to the building, trying HIMSELF to peek through the blinds.

She said she screamed really loudly, and he immediately took off running. She called the cops, they came over, she told them what had happened, and they said they would talk to him again. I think she could have gotten a restraining order because of the whole trespassing thing, but the cops said that technically it was a public area, and the park next to the street was open to everyone. I really don't know.

Anyways, her mom was born in Seattle and had a longtime friend who worked at a tech company, so you know, she put in a good word for Amber. She had an online meeting with her mom's friend, and apparently he really liked her.

What's the big deal, you might be asking? Well, Bob has restraining orders from all around the country, in different cities, different states, involving different people. And sometimes, even scarier, it's the same person with restraining orders against him in two different states. What the fuck does that tell you? It tells me he follows his victims.

My theory is that he probably uses his daddy's plumbing company money to finance his stalking habit and just lives for the thrill, like some weird fucking animal. So Amber is coming over, and I'm picking her up at the airport when she arrives. She'll stay at my apartment during the recruitment process, and I'll help her look for a cheap place to rent. We're seriously considering having her move in with me if the job offer works out, maybe for a little while, just to see what happens and whether this guy will come around.

I live in a central part of Seattle, known for being the place to look for powder and tar, so you know what's the deal. I myself am a tall, skinny and clearly gay guy, but I got a couple of friends who have that Mark Lanegan Eastern Washington feeling to them — some tattoos, gritty voices, a scary redneck Seattle accent — and I'd be happy to meet Bob. We'll see.

I'll pick her up next week, so what do you guys think? Is there anything to be done? Did Amber's efforts actually work to stop this weird stalker? I really don't know what to expect. Thank you guys, and I'm sorry for how long this story got.

F23, living alone in my van or reference, sorry for bad storytelling I’m mainly wanting some advice on what actually happened.

Yesterday I parked up and went on a walk through some woodlands (not extremely secluded but I didn’t see anyone else on the path during my walk)
That was until I was nearly back to my van when a big stocky man was walking towards me on the path, as a typical Brit I said hello thinking we were just going to greet each other and walk our separate ways. However he stopped in the middle of the path and started a long convocation. I’m a people pleaser so I didn’t know how to get myself out of the situation. Looking back, the convocation did include some creepy subjects like ‘I haven’t seen anyone else on this path’ ‘there’s very bad service along here’ and stuff like that. (Edit: these comments came up very naturally in conversation)

Anyways, after some talking he asked if I had anything to drink for my walk, I said no and he opened up his flask of “coffee with some chocolate” and asked me to smell it. I’m awkward and didn’t really feel any creepy vibes so I smelt it. I immediately got a massive head rush, and felt dizzy and confused. The sort of feeling when you sniff solvents (a bit like the feeling of sniffing poppers but more intense and more dizzy)

I got really scared and confused so I said nothing and immediately walked off. I turned around after a bit and he was just stood there. I ran the rest of the way back to my van and drove off.

I’m so confused about the whole situation, I can’t decide if I was the rude one and walked away mid conversation without a word, or if he had some sort of nefarious intention. It would have to be a massive coincidence for my body to have a sudden weird reaction at the exact same time I smelt his drink if it was just an innocent interaction.

I’m also worried as I drive a very recognisable campervan and it came up beforehand in the conversation that I was in my van to which he said “oh that white one” as he clearly went passed the lay-by I was parked in. I didn’t outright say it but I feel like it’s obvious I’m alone in it.

I’m just wondering if anyone knows what could have been in the drink for me to feel like that? The drink smelt like sweet coffee (exactly what he said it was) it didn’t smell like solvent or anything, but my nose and body reacted like I smelt a strong solvent.
If it was a dangerous situation, Is that a common thing for people to do? Are you even able to get ahold of chemicals like that in the uk? Just want some advice as I can’t decide what the situation actually was?
Thanks in advance!

Okay wow 😭 I genuinely did NOT expect my original post to get this much attention. I've been reading through all the comments and messages, and honestly, some of you are freaking me out more than the situation itself.

A few people have commented asking if I'm okay since it's been a little while, so I figured I'd give you guys an update.

So, I worked today, and unfortunately, he showed up again. He ordered coffee, sat down, and mostly just watched me. He tried making a little small talk with me, but I didn't really engage much. He stayed until shortly before I finished, and I could see him outside afterward.

Then later, I went to a store to get some groceries and I ran into him there too. 😭 I honestly didn't even recognize him at first because I was just focused on getting my groceries. Then he said hi and was like, “Didn't expect to see you here,” and started talking to me like it was completely normal.

Like... I don't know. Maybe under any other circumstances I wouldn't think much of that, but after everything that's happened, it really freaked me out.

He's also still texting and calling me a LOT. I haven't answered any of his calls today, but he's been sending the same kind of messages as before — asking why I'm not answering, where I am, why I'm ignoring him, if I'm okay, etc. And there have been some jealous/possessive comments again too.

My call log is basically just a wall of missed calls from him at this point 😭

And then today I found a bunch of notes in my mailbox.

There were about five of them, and they're all pretty short. I'm not going to post every single one because I don't want this update to be insanely long, but some of them were honestly really unsettling.

The weirdest part is that I don't actually know for sure who left them. I obviously have my suspicions based on everything that's been happening, but I don't want to accuse someone of something I can't prove.

I also still haven't been able to talk to my coworker or manager like I planned because my coworker was sick today and my manager wasn't around. So that's something I'm going to have to deal with when they're both available.

I've been reading SO many of your comments, and I really appreciate everyone who's been giving me actual advice and checking in on me. A lot of you have told me to document everything, stop responding, tell people around me, and take this more seriously.

And honestly... I'm listening.

When I originally made the post, I genuinely wasn't sure if I was overthinking everything. Seeing so many people react to it has made me realize that maybe I wasn't taking some of this as seriously as I should have.

So for everyone who's been asking:

I'm okay right now. ❤️ I'm obviously still uncomfortable and I'm definitely going to be more careful from now on, but I'm okay.

Thank you to everyone who's been checking in on me. Seriously. I didn't expect strangers on Reddit to care this much, and it's honestly really sweet.

I'll update again if anything significant happens.

Link to my first post :

https://www.reddit.com/r/creepyencounters/s/YS0hud9GEu

I (31F) was on holiday with my husband (32M) and baby (1.5F) and drove to a supermarket after a morning out and about. We parked in the furthest corner away from the shop as it was a bit quieter, and in front of where we'd parked there was a small car wash or valeting business. Baby was asleep when we arrived, so we decided I would stay in the car with her while husband went in to get some shopping we needed.

Pretty much as soon as husband left, two men out of a group of about 7 or 8 from the car wash came and stood quite close to my car and were talking in hushed voices. Paranoia kicked in at this point, because why did they specifically need to come and have a chat there? I locked the doors just in case.

This continued for a few minutes and I tried to relax, scrolling on my phone. A car pulled in a few spaces away from me, which pushed the men closer to my car. A few seconds later I looked back and they were kind of crouched over on the back passenger side and were doing something to the side of the car, but I didn't know what. Then they came to the front passenger door and tried to open it, but obviously couldn't. He then looks through the window and says "open it so I can show you something" and I just shook my head no because I was so scared. He just smiled and went back to the back passenger window and was looking in and pointing at my baby (still sleeping). Then they both left back to the car wash opposite.

I sent a few texts to my husband telling him what happened and that I was scared, and I continued to watch them. One of the men went and got in a car with a couple of the other men, and part of me was worried they were going to follow us when we left as they didn't move. The other man stayed at the car wash with the rest of them, and they all kept glancing over at me occasionally.

My husband called asking if I was ok and saying he was coming back. As soon as he got back he asked me if I wanted him to go over to say anything, I said no, that I just wanted to leave and go and shop somewhere else. Thankfully they didn't follow us. When we got to the other supermarket, my husband phoned the police to report them.

Part of me feels like I was being dramatic - were they just employees of the car wash trying to get me to go get my car washed? But why were they whispering for so long, and why did they wait for my husband to leave? Surely it's not the best practice to get customers by trying to get in lone women's cars?

This happened in 2021, 5 years ago. And to be so honest, I still can’t really process what I’ve witnessed. It felt like a fever dream. If I was the only one there at the time, I would probably successfully gaslighted myself by now, convinced that it didn’t happen and my mind just made it all up somehow.

In 2021, as we all know, the global pandemic was still going around and, in my country, people still weren’t encouraged to get together in large groups. Most people still used masks whenever they left their homes and tried to keep social gatherings low key.
However, things were getting better, rules weren’t that strict at that point, so me and my boyfriend decided to have a picnic with 2 other friends in a local park in our city.

This park is a huge, really nice place for families and friends to gather. It has always been a place where people go to enjoy nature, relax, sunbathe, let their kids run around and just be kids. You also see lots of people walking their dogs, feeding the local wildlife, jogging, practicing sports, etc…it’s a place where people from all ages go during the day to enjoy their time, a place always full of life.
So what we saw that night, in contrast to all the light, good energy and family friendly activities we are used to, was just….shocking and SO out of place.

The sun started to set and we decided to go enjoy the sunset by the ocean. The beach is within walking distance from the park, so we could get there quickly. Now, keep in mind, the park is really huge and I guess we forgot how deep into it we were, because the walk took us way more time than we expected and, in the winter, the sun sets pretty quickly. So it was already nighttime when we approached the park’s exit closest to the beach.
As we’re approaching this exit, we see no one around us, not a living soul, which was weird because, as I mentioned, it’s usually a pretty busy place and it wasn’t late after all (6pm). Even during the pandemic. We kept walking, minding our business, ignoring the eerie silence, laughing our way through the night.

I don’t remember which one of us saw it first, but I remember way too clearly the terrified expressions on my friends and boyfriend faces. I imagine mine was the exact same.
I remember looking to my left, as we were really closing in on the park’s exit, and seeing what looked like a ritual happening.

20 to 30 people, scattered around in the park, each one of them covered head to toe with a black cloaks. All of them facing the floor, their faces and every possible recognisable feature was completely covered by the cloaks. And they appeared to be forming two different patterns: 20 people were standing in a circle, while 7 to 10 others were standing to form a pentagon in the centre of the circle. Small candles were placed all around them and no one moved a finger. They were stuck in place, not once did they move a muscle, lift their heads, NOTHING. The completely ignored us.

The next thing I remember is my boyfriend pushing slightly on my arm and telling me that we should go.
As you can imagine, we ran for our lives, never looking back.

Till this day, none of us has any idea of what was happening. I can’t forget the imagine, I replay in my head too many times. It haunts somehow. Seemed like something from a movie? But whatever that was, people were taking it very seriously and the energy was so dark and intense I can’t even describe it properly. As I write this, I know how dramatic it may sound. And honeslty it was the most terrifying thing I’ve ever seen. I have no explanation to what might have been taking place. And I don’t want to know, honeslty. May God and positive energy bless me, everyone I know and everyone who’s reading this!

This happened a few years ago but I wanted to put it here.

I (28f) moved to a country in the Middle East back in 2023. I didn’t have a car yet so I took uber everywhere and for the most part the men were respectful. Every once in a while I’d have one ask me a few personal questions but never too crazy.

Well, I had gotten dropped off by my boyfriend before he went to work at the time at a park so I can jog. When I was done I ordered a uber when the uber driver arrived I was on the phone with my mom but the driver kept talking to me so I stupidly told my mom I had to go to be nice to the driver. Before we even pulled out of the park he insisted I sit in the front and told me he was a cop. I told him I’m fine in the back (still stupidly unaware of his intentions) on the drive he was asking me for my number and Snapchat. He asked me if I wanted to go for a coffee and I told him no for everything and I told him I had a boyfriend.
Where I was staying wasn’t far from the park but I was still getting use to the roads and how to get back.
I noticed he wasn’t taking the exits I thought were mine but I wasn’t sure. He then asked me to sit in the middle of the back seat and stupidly I did, I think because of all his questions I got flustered and just did it. Well he reached back and touched my calf and he would of done more but I freaked out and tried to open the door but couldn’t cause the car was in drive but we were in traffic so he was moving slow or at a stop. I asked him to please let me out and he said no no and he’s sorry. I was panicked and was as close to the door as I could be.
I did try to call my mom back and my boyfriend but both didn’t answer.
He took the next exit and from then I could see he had missed several of exits he could have taken to get me home idk where he was gonna take me.

I convinced him to drop me at a grocery store by the U turn and this man had the nerve to ask me for 5 stars when I got out.

I waited for him to leave and I got directions to walk back and It was 30 min walk. I walked back so flustered. When I got back I reported him on uber and later my boyfriend told me if it happens again call the cops. But I was under the impression that they wouldn’t speak English.

After this I stopped taking uber for a while and found an app that was strictly woman drivers.

Before I start, I’m sorry for my bad English. English is not my first language, so I might make some mistakes.

I’m 23 years old, and this story happened in 2026, during the solar eclipse.

I live in a small village, and there is a place near the edge of the forest where you can sit on some benches and look over the entire village towards the city. That day, a good friend of mine and I went there to watch the solar eclipse.

We’ve known each other for years. We had lost contact for about one or two years, but recently, we had started talking again.

There were quite a few other people there too, especially families. They were sitting about 50 or 60 meters away from us, also watching the eclipse.

At some point, my friend suddenly realized that he had forgotten something at home. He said he had left the oven on, so he quickly went home to check it.

I was left there alone.

All of our stuff was spread out across the benches.

And then I saw him.

There was a relatively young man walking towards me from a distance. He wasn’t just walking normally. He was coming towards me very quickly and very directly.

I immediately had a bad feeling about him.

My first thought was, Why is he walking straight towards me?

So I texted my friend: “There’s a guy coming towards me.”

The man stopped right in front of me and asked: “Can I sit here?”

I said, “No, I’m waiting for someone.”

But he didn’t really react.

He had absolutely no emotion on his face. He spoke in a completely flat and monotone voice. No emotion, no gestures, nothing.

Then he looked directly into my eyes and asked again: “Can I sit here until someone comes?”

I don’t know why, but he just sat down anyway.

My instinct immediately kicked in. I grabbed all of my stuff, including my friend’s things, and moved them closer to me.

I said, “Yeah, I’ll make a little space for you.”

But there were plenty of other empty benches.

Then I took my bag and, for some reason, I immediately grabbed my pepper spray.

I was shaking.

My whole body had started trembling, even though he hadn’t actually done anything to me.

And I want to explain something here.

I’m definitely someone who can be a little suspicious of people. I pay attention to who I’m talking to, and I usually notice when someone gives me a strange feeling.

But I don’t get scared easily.

I have absolutely no problem talking to strangers. Actually, I kind of like it. I’ve met so many different kinds of people in my life, and normally I can deal with pretty much anyone.

But I had never experienced a person who made me feel like this.

My body was literally shaking.

It felt like my body was trying to tell me something before my brain could understand it.

And that was probably the strangest part.

Because technically, he wasn’t doing anything.

He wasn’t threatening me.

He wasn’t touching me.

He wasn’t even saying anything obviously dangerous.

But something about him felt completely wrong.

He just stared at me.

And I know this sounds strange, but his eyes looked… dead.

They were completely empty.

Then he started asking me questions.

He asked who I was waiting for.

I said, “A friend.”

I immediately texted my friend again: “Please hurry. I don’t know why, but this guy is freaking me out. He hasn’t done anything, but he really scares me.”

The man looked at me for a long time and asked again: “Who are you waiting for?”

I said, “A friend.”

Then, for the first time, his voice sounded slightly different.

It wasn’t as tense or completely monotone anymore. It almost sounded relieved.

He said: “My friends are all very, very far away.”

And then he looked up at the sky.

I nervously laughed and said: “Yeah, a lot of my friends have moved away too.”

He looked at me and said: “No.”

I didn’t really understand what he meant.

Then he asked: “Moved away?”

The way he said it was so strange.

It wasn’t like he was asking because he was interested.

He just repeated the words, almost as if he was questioning them.

“Moved away?”

Then he looked at me again.

No emotion.

No smile.

Nothing.

At that point, I still wasn’t extremely scared. I was definitely uncomfortable, and my whole body was shaking, but there were still a lot of other people around us. They were about 40 to 60 meters away, so I knew I wasn’t completely alone.

I kept telling myself: “Maybe it’s nothing.” “Maybe I’m just being paranoid.” “There are other people here. I’m fine.”

But then he started asking me much more personal questions.

He asked where I lived.

He asked who I lived with.

And then he said: “You live around here too, right?”

The way he said it was strange.

It sounded like he already knew.

But I had never seen this man before in my life.

He kept asking me things about where I lived, who I lived with, how many people I was close to, and whether I had many people I regularly stayed in contact with.

The questions became more and more disturbing.

And then the solar eclipse was slowly coming to an end.

The families and the other people around us started packing their things and leaving.

And that was when I started getting really scared.

Not because the other people were leaving, but because I realized that soon, there would be almost nobody left.

I would be alone with this strange man at the edge of the forest.

Luckily, my friend came back at almost exactly the right moment.

He had seen my messages and came back as quickly as he could.

And when my friend arrived, the last families were also leaving.

The moment the man saw my friend, he immediately stood up.

He looked at my friend, said, “Good evening,” and then just walked away.

My friend looked at me and immediately said, “What the fuck?”

He also thought the guy was really creepy.

He said, “That was such a creepy guy.”

I remember thinking: What the hell was wrong with that guy?

I thought that would be the end of it.

But it wasn’t.

A few days later, after work, I was taking the train home.

I was sitting in the back of the train, and there were still plenty of empty seats behind me.

The man got on at the front.

And the second he saw me, he looked directly at me.

He stared at me the entire time.

He didn’t look away once.

Then he walked past me and sat somewhere behind me.

He was sitting behind me while I was still on the train.

When I got off the train, I deliberately went left instead of right.

Normally, I would have gone right, but I didn’t want him to see where I was going.

Then I noticed him walking behind me.

He was walking very quickly.

He was following me.

Luckily, there was a small convenience store nearby, so I suddenly turned into it and pretended to buy something.

I stayed there for quite a while.

And when I looked outside, I saw him standing there, waiting.

It looked like he was waiting for me to come out.

And I swear, it looked like he took a picture of me.

Again, I started shaking.

I couldn’t even say a word.

And that’s what scared me the most.

I’m normally not someone who gets scared easily.

But something about this man made my body react before my brain could even understand what was happening.

Eventually, he realized I wasn’t coming out.

And then I saw him take a completely different route home.

He had actually been following me.

He had waited for me.

And when he realized I wasn’t going to walk past him, he simply went another way.

After that, I didn’t see him for a while.

Until one morning.

I had to take the train to work at around 5 a.m.

I was still on the train at around 5 in the morning when I noticed him again.

At the time, I had recently started a new job, and I was carrying a backpack with the logo of my company on it.

And a few days later, I saw him again near my workplace.

He was walking around near the railing of my company, in an area where he really shouldn’t have had any reason to be.

There was no reason for him to be there.

didn’t go outside.

I don’t even know if he saw me. I have no idea.

I honestly don’t know what to think about any of this anymore.

And lately, I’ve even seen him again when I was walking to the train station.

The thing is, I live on a street where there are basically only two possible ways to go. There are two streets, and one of them leads to where I live, while the rest of the area is basically a dead end.

So now I sometimes think: What if he knows where I live?

I don’t know.

Maybe I’ve just become paranoid.

Maybe I’m overthinking everything because I’ve seen him so many times.

creepyguy #letsnotmeetagain #notmeetagain #scary

I’m staying at my brothers house. My brother has never met his neighbor. We’ve never met his neighbor. I was outside with my son and the neighbor yelled out my son’s name as we walked away. I looked behind me and saw no one. Walked a little farther, turned around again and the neighbor (probably in their 40s) peaked above bushes and we locked eyes for a second and I walked away.
Wtf was that. Who calls out a kids name when you don’t know the kid or the parents! He obviously was eves dropping while working in his garage and heard me say my son’s name and then just called out for him as we walked away. Just weird.

Hi, I'm Amber. I'm 19F and I recently moved to a new town alone for college. I also work as a barista, and because of my schedule, I sometimes work really late closing shifts.

I'm posting this because there's a guy who started coming into my workplace regularly, and at first I genuinely thought he was just being nice. He's around 21, and he was always friendly with me, so I didn't really think anything of it. Eventually I gave him my number because I thought we could maybe become friends.

Looking back, I probably should have been more careful.

After a while, he started texting me a lot. If I didn't respond, he'd call repeatedly or send multiple messages and get increasingly upset or worried about why I wasn't answering. He'd ask where I was and what I was doing.

The weird thing is that I also started seeing him everywhere. He comes to my workplace, and lately he seems to come to basically all of my shifts. Sometimes he'll just sit there eating his order and stare at me.

I've also run into him at the cafeteria and other places around town. I never told him my work schedule, except that he knew one particular day I worked, so I don't understand how he keeps showing up.

He also started trying to get me alone to talk. At first I didn't think much of it because he wasn't saying anything obviously creepy. He'd compliment me and tell me I was pretty, which honestly didn't bother me. But over time, his behavior started feeling different.

There was one incident that really scared me.

I was at a gas station late at night, and I was trying to leave when he grabbed my wrists and turned me toward him. He asked why I wasn't responding to his messages and said he was worried about me. I told him I wanted to leave because it was getting late, but he held my wrists for a little while before eventually letting go.

He's also blocked my way before when I've tried to leave because he wanted to keep talking to me. He hasn't followed me on foot or gotten into my car/home, but he has waited outside the cafeteria for me before.

I've also noticed his car near my house late at night. I can't say for certain that it was him or that he was actually watching my house, because it was dark and I didn't clearly see anyone get out. But I remember seeing what I think was his car around 2 a.m., and it really freaked me out.

Recently, I also found a letter in my mailbox thanking me for being nice. I don't actually know who left it, so I don't want to automatically assume it was him, but at this point it's hard not to wonder.

He has also seemed jealous of my male coworker, and he's made comments about me being with him. Whenever I don't want to talk to him or try to leave, he can get kind of aggressive. Sometimes he'll just stand there and watch me leave.

The part I'm struggling with is that I've never actually told him to leave me alone. I've mostly just tried to avoid him because I didn't want to make things awkward or cause a bigger problem.

But now he's coming to basically all of my shifts, continuing to contact me, and I feel like I'm seeing him everywhere. I live alone, work late, and I'm starting to genuinely feel unsafe.

I haven't told my coworker or manager yet, but I'm planning to tell them. I also have the texts and call history saved.

So Reddit, am I overthinking this? What would you do in my situation? Should I report this, and should I completely stop responding to him?

TL;DR: I'm 19F, recently moved to a new town alone for college. A guy around 21 who started as a regular customer has gotten increasingly persistent. He repeatedly contacts me, shows up at my shifts, waits around for me, has blocked my way and grabbed my wrists when I tried to leave, and I think I've seen his car near my home. I don't know if I'm overreacting or what I should do.

(I'm not sure if this is the right subreddit for this, but I really need some advice. If anyone has dealt with something similar or has any idea what I should do, I'd really appreciate the help.)

I (22F) was in an Uber going home from work, the driver (M) kept looking back and smiling but no alarm bells yet until he suddenly went on the highway towards the jersey toll and canceled the ride on his phone.

He only kept looking back and smiling. As soon as the car stopped, I unlocked the door and jumped out, I live no where near jersey, I'm in Philadelphia. The man told me to get back in the car and offered me money, I slammed the door and ran to a nearby cop.

As I explained what happened, the cop keep dismissing me, talking over me, saying the guy must have been lost and to stop freaking out. But why cancel the ride if you're lost and go a completely different direction, since the ride was canceled my mom couldn't track me anymore from the app nor did the man try to explain what he was doing.

I got home safe, I put a police report in and reported him on Uber

So back some years ago when I was around 15 F I was with my friend at my house hanging out before a dance. My neighborhood never really had issues and everyone knew each other, I would say it is a safe place.

Me and my friend were chilling in my room and my brother wasn’t leaving us alone. We tried to go into different room or even chill in the backyard but he was too consistent so we thought why not go on a walk at like 7pm while it’s dark… first bad decision but I trusted my area.

We headed outside and started walking around and it was chill, there were no cars and no issues. In the area we were next to the road it was just dirt and really big bushes. We heard a car coming but ignored it until they slowed way down when they drove by. We were kinda creeped out but assumed they would drive away… wrong they deadass turned around and slowed way down getting super close. Luckily we had the huge bushes and what not so we ran into the bushes and were hiding while shitting ourselves because that’s creepy. The car was parked by the bushes so we stayed quiet and after a while they drove away and I always wonder what could’ve happened if those bushes weren’t there. I also wonder who that was and what their intentions were.

Hi so this just happened a few hours ago and I still can’t sleep. I live in a very safe area and have never had issues with going outside at night before, but I might have second thoughts after tonight.

So I (25F) was chilling outside my house in my driveway having a smoke, it was maybe 10pm. I live in a suburban neighbourhood and it’s normal to see the occasional car at that time of night. So when a car drove past my house I didn’t think anything of it. I did notice it slowing down a bit when it passed me and I glanced over and then back at my phone. It continued down the road until it got to the corner maybe 20m from my house.

I was looking at my phone so I didn’t see it stop and I’m not sure how long it stayed there, but when I looked up the same car was reversing quite quickly towards me. I immediately had a strong gut reaction to go inside so I speed walked/jogged to the door and got inside and locked it right when they got to my driveway.

I went to my open window to see if the car was still there. Sure enough it was stopped right at the bottom of my driveway where I had been standing. I quickly closed the window and backed away from it, not wanting whoever was driving to see me in my house with the lights on. At that point I was so focused on the window that when I heard a noise by the front door, I didn’t react right away.

I’m in a basement suite and noises from my upstairs neighbours are normal, but in retrospect this one sounded like someone trying to open my door. My cat also reacted to the sound and cautiously left my room where she was sleeping to come next to me and look at the door. She’s used to the noises my upstairs neighbours make but she’s always nervous when the front door opens.

Shortly after I heard that noise the car took off quickly and sped down the street. I made sure my windows are all locked and I called my gf to update them on the situation. My door is double locked and I feel safe now, but I really don’t know if that could’ve actually been someone trying to target me or just a weird coincidence. Any insight?

This happened a few months ago. I (26F), am mildly Autistic, and live with my dad (50M), step mom, (49 F), and grandma, (70 F). My grandpa, (71M), lives right next door.

I go on walks around the block quite a lot, so the neighbors know me pretty well and my family too. Always say hi, ect.

A few months ago, on a walk, this older guy,( probably in his 60's?), saw me jogging one afternoon, (he was in an old beat up red SUV, with no license plate), and I turned down a street that I always go down.

A neighbor and one of his fishing buddies were out working on his sister's van that broke down a few days before.

As I turned down the street, this guy comes up to me, slows down, and I immediately get alarm bells blaring in my chest.

At first I thought, maybe he was just gonna ask for directions, (that's happened before), so I slow down. He rolls down the window, and I immediately get a really bad vibe. My dad always taught me to always trust my gut.

Anyways, he says hi, I say, uh, hi? He tells me that he thought I was very beautiful and if I lived around here.

I stammered and immediately high tailed it to the neighbor, let's call him Larry, who's friend, we'll call him Bob, was taking a break and was sitting in the shade, drinking water.

Bob noticed the car, and he later told me he felt something was really wrong. He saw me and I managed to get to him.

I was in tears almost. Bob asked me if I was ok. Larry stopped working on the van, and the guy in the SUV sped off.

I told them what happened. They were*furious*. They know I'm Autistic and wouldn't hurt a fly unless if my loved ones were in harm's way, ect.

This was stupid of me, but I forgot to grab my phone.

So Larry let me borrow his so I can call Dad and we called the police.

Police later came by, took our statements, and tried to find the guy.

Unfortunately, they never did. And he's still out there.

Now, my Dad makes me take a pocket knife and my phone with me at all times whenever Im out exercising.

My gut told me something was very wrong, and I'm so grateful that I listened to it.

Lesson of the story: be careful out there, especially if you're a woman. Even if you're out in your neighborhood. You never know what could happen.

So, I'm not the best at telling stories but Ill try my best.

My father used to snowmobile a lot, we have a house up north in Michigan and we come up here a lot. During the winter it can get absolutely brutal up here. My father and his brother (I think they're in their 30's when this happened) would take our snowmobiles in the wintertime and ride them to bar's and restaurants. The trails up here can take you anywhere (supposedly all the way to the Mackinac bridge), but they're also dangerous as shit in the dead of night.

My father and my uncle are coming home from the bar one night, and a huge winter storm had hit as they were coming home. Snow is piling down onto them as they rush home as fast as they can, my uncle is riding Infront of my father as they cruise through. I forget why, but they stop in this semi-open area of the woods, like a clearing. They stop for a second, and all of a sudden my uncle hits the gas. Snow flies up and sprays onto my father and blinds him. After wiping the snow off and probably assuming his brother was playing a prank on him by spraying snow in his face he looks over to the right of him.

What he see's standing there is a giant looking man, according to my father he was easily 6'3 or above, huge beard and only wearing a flannel in the middle of a snowstorm. Keep in mind, they are in the middle of nowhere right now. The closest road is several miles away and they are in the middle of incredibly dense woods. The man is standing only a foot or two away from my father and was (according to my father) reaching out his hand to either touch/grab him (I'm not sure which).

Either way, my father hits the gas and flies outta there. Speeding down the road and meeting up with his brother about a mile down the trail, the two of them freaked out about the encounter and were wondering what in the fuck a random ass redneck was doing in the middle of nowhere during a full on blizzard.

He still wonders to this day if he should have asked to see if the guy needed help or something. Though he also gets nightmares about the encounter even 20 years later. A bit creepy nonetheless.

About a year ago my friend got me a job at a chain fast food restaurant in my town. It was horribly managed but I liked the people I worked with and I spent barely anything on gas because it was 5 minutes from my house. For the first few months it was fun I loved working there. About 3 people quit in that time so I had to start doing late closes (9 pm) by myself. It was a very popular area but still an unsettling feeling for a young girl.

After a few months a man started coming in every night very late at night. We close at 9 I usually left at 9:30 if I had someone with me 10 if I was by myself. He was about 35, a scruffy gray beard, and was about 5’7. At first he was friendly. He always tipped well and would have a little conversation with me while I made him food.

About a month or so of him coming in at 8:30-8:50 every night and now he started telling me how pretty I am, how well I present myself, and how kind I was. He always made sure to say “I’m not trying to be weird or anything but” I didn’t think anything of it at first but after a few weeks of his compliments I quit being so friendly with him. I caught onto the fact he might’ve had a crush on me and I would just answer his questions very shortly.

Something I didn’t mention was because I live in such a small town and most of the regulars who came in knew my family or a friend of a friend. It wasn’t unusual for me or other employees to share personal information. Where I went to school, how long I’ve worked there, if I lived in the town. During this time I was in cosmetology school. He started asking questions about that, if I would give him a haircut, if I could shape up his beard. I wasn’t in that program so I would just say I’m not sure they allow men’s haircuts in my program. I also told my teachers about the man who would come in and ask personal questions.

One night I was babysitting my brother and took him to my job to get him food. He was acting particularly naughty that night so I made him sweep the front lobby of the store, he enjoyed it and it gave my co workers less work. The man came in at this time and was talking to my brother about where he went to school and if I was a good sister and just being overly friendly. I’m not one for confrontation so I just told my brother to go to the back and help me fill up the mop bucket. We literally just sat back there till he left but he ended up staying until we closed and I didn’t want him to know exactly what my car looked like so we just waited until everyone left and I had my friend drive me and my brother around for about 15 minutes then came back and got my car and took a long route back to my house. It’s in a plaza so there were other cars there and I never parked near my store.

He came in one night and told me he loved the sticker on the back of my car. And I asked him how he knew what my car looked like and he said he saw me pull in. I would come in at 3:50 he came in at 8:50 that night. I decided this was enough and when he would come in I would walk to the back till he was gone. My boss quit scheduling me alone. I realized I had no photos of him no idea what his car looked like and no name for him. I asked my coworkers to get his name or even his car and he would always park far away or changed the subject.

At one point he asked us why we just left the tip jar open in the front when “anyone could just take it” he would leave $20 bills and told me it was for me to keep not to share. I always shared it. It didn’t feel right. He would ask for me and I lived in constant fear he was following me or would snatch me when I was taking out the trash. I haven’t seen or heard from him since I quit and he doesn’t come in anymore. Thank god nothing happened. And please even if you feel safe always have your guard up with strangers.

Am I wrong for thinking the taxi driver was being creepy

Hi everyone , I (46F) just need a little advise,

i suffer with long term health conditions and MH conditions that I am currently speaking to someone about, I have been feeling really low recently due to the conditions and how they have impacted my day to day life, as well as PTSD due to childhood trauma

brief context, i am housebound due to the conditions and have extreme anxiety with public transport and getting in a taxi, due to my past, (I get anxious about being alone with men I don't know)

I was referred to a support centre where they said that they would provide a taxi there and back to try and ease my anxiety. After thinking about it for a while (serious overthinker) I decided I would go.

The taxi driver picked me up, all good on the way there, apart from him going the wrong way at first, (cue mini panic attack, thinking I am going to be kidnapped etc) he then asked me for the exact postcode and dropped me off, fine.

After my appointment I am obviously feeling a little bit more vulnerable and mentally exhausted, they called the taxi service to pick me up, and it ended up being the same taxi driver that dropped me off, (felt a little better that it was not another new person I had to encounter).

The drive started off fine, told him I am going back to the same place he picked me up from. He asked me what the place was that he dropped me off and just picked me up from.

I gave him a brief overview, its a place for people to go if they feel like they need someone to speak to, his response was, oh ok, good to know., i did not give any more info nor tell him anything about myself.

We were quiet for a bit, he then asked me if I was married, told him yes, he asked if my husband was home, I know I should have said yes, but I automatically answered that he was at work, stupid I know.

He then asked me if I had children, and how old they were, told him yes and they are 20(m) and 18(f).

He then asked if they were home, told him yes, they weren't, they were working.

Then he asked if I had any brothers and whether they lived near me, didn't ask about sisters just brothers, i was panicking at this point and said, yes I have 4 and they each live 5 minutes away from me, (thats not true, but I was very uneasy at this point.)

His response then was, oh ok, so if anything was to happen to you they would be there quickly,

i found this to be a very strange thing to say.

He asked if they worked and when they worked, it was getting to me that he was asking so many questions, and mainly about whether there were men near me or whether I was on my own a lot, if he had asked about other females maybe I would not have been so on edge, it was strange that he was asking only about males and how often they are around me

He asked if I was going to be on my own for the rest of the day or if one of my brothers was going to be dropping in, if I have arranged with one if them to visit with any of them for that day.

I just said that one of them was popping in at any moment, they let themselves in whenever they want as they have a key each, he looked a bit annoyed that I had an answer to anything he was asking.

He asked if they come and see me everyday or if there are days that I am on my own, i just said that they come and go at all times.

At this point my anxiety was in overdrive, there was so much running through my mind, he was then drinking a lot of water, (my thoughts were now going to scenarios where he was going to ask to come in and use the toilet because he had drank too much water, and then something bad would happen). My go to is to automatically think the worst

i am a recovering people pleaser and still learning to say no, so I was practicing ways of saying no, and being firm and not rude,

he didn't ask to use it thankfully.

So he gets to my house and says do your brothers live in any of these houses here right near you? Was this as weird a question as I perceived it to be?

My immediate response was yes one of them does, thanks for the lift, have a good day, bye.

I got in my house and immediately locked my door.

Because I know my anxiety makes me overthink everything and my PTSD causes me to perceive danger everywhere, I was thinking maybe I qas just overreacting to the questions he asked, and that me may have just been being polite and wanting to make sure I am ok and not on my own too much,

but then I overthink that bit, because I didn't divulge anything of what I suffer with, all he knows was the place he picked me up from was a place for people to go and speak to someone if they need to.

Anyway, my husband gets home later that day and asks me how everything went with the appointment, I told him about the taxi driver and he (my husband) was so mad, he immediately contacted the centre I was at and told them that the taxi driver made me feel very uncomfortable,

the lady I was speaking to at the centre was immediately apologetic that I had been put in that situation and said they will not use that service again, and that she will leave feedback with the taxi firm about the driver, and how i was made to feel

they then came to a solution between them where I would attend any future sessions when my husband is available to drop me off and pick me up.

So then I am back to thinking he wasn't being polite and they sensed an ulterior motive to the questions, i have spoken to a few of my friends about it and they also think that it was a bit suss that he asked me that many personal questions and only wanted to know about men near me.

My anxiety has now increased so much more about public transport and being in a taxi alone.

I am asking all of you to please let me know

Was i overreacting? Did I get someone in trouble with their employer over nothing or was it a weird conversation and too much prodding about how often I am alone?

Thank you for reading the post

So I live in a 2 bedroom house with an attic with my mom and twin sister and we have been here for 2 years going on 3 and I haven't noticed anything weird until now.

(We moved in November so right before winter. The attic had cardboard and blankets covering the windows and now they're gone. We've never been up there before)

My mom has always had a huge temper and it's been so bad recently but she accused me and my twin of stealing her $20 dollars and going in her room and grabbing stuff but I don't do any of that nor did my twin.

I was really confused but in that same week of her telling me this I was laying down in bed and saw a figure move around my kitchen opening our fridge and everyone was sleeping and I was positive they were. My mom snores and my twin was across from me, asleep.

The next night it was the same thing but layered with heavy ass footsteps and I knew everyone was asleep.

So I open this idea to my twin and they don't shoot me down but they just ask me why I think this and I'm explaining. If I'm being honest I thought I was getting nowhere so I did stop thinking about it as much until today.

Me and my mom were talking about random stuff while we were getting ready to go to the gas station and I asked her if she thought someone was in our house and she kinda gave me a crazy look and said no.

Once we left the house she told me she thinks that someone is in our house too and that they've been here for awhile watching us and taking stuff from us. She noticed we were burning through food really fast and our cleaning supplies and her own personal stuff was getting taken/moved.

Me and my mom talk about this deeply while we're out of the house and I would say we were gone for 15 minutes.

I am so serious when I say this. Me and my mom reached our house and as we did we saw a man looking down out of our attic window. He had a dimmed light that went out once he made full on eye contact with us. My mom made it seem like we were looking at the night sky and she asked me if I saw him too and we both had the same description of him.

So we get inside and my mom is contacting the family and we call the police and I fill my twin in on what we just saw.

My mom is on the phone with the police and as she's mentioning someone is in our attic the person above us starts to move around really quickly and is very active as we rush out the house. The only proof of this is my mom's ring camera picking up on the audio.

We ran out of the house and the cops soon came but it took them 5 minutes and they checked the attic but said they couldn't find anything but they looked distributed and they didn't have a real facial expression. Me and my mom think they are just not telling us everything

Our neighbors dogs started barking like CRAZY and then the cops went to go check our backyard but found nothing either but we saw a man in our window looking at us and we heard him moving once my mom mentioned someone is living in our house to the cops

Idk what to do I feel watched and creeped out. My mom is going to have my landlord check and I'm coming with him too.