hi welcome to dead and roasted what can I get you have you ever seen a UFO not me I'd say the strangest thing I've seen flying through the air was in that video of the chimpanzees tormenting that poor raccoon toss the little guy like a frisbee I think he got away though welcome back my friends to the little cafe of Terror and caffeine it's time for my break and today I've got some scary work stories about naval officers versus a sea monster a very haunted forest a veteran Supernatural Nightmare and more and hey if you
have a scary work story I want to hear it send it to me at Eerie cast.com sssubmit also my two new books are out go buy them and if you already have leave a rating or review just go to Amazon or Barnes & Noble and look up Phantom phenomena which features the scariest stories I've ever received and Appalachian folklore unveiled which details The Haunting yet Rich history lore and culture of Appalachia now then these are Tales from the breakroom the house in the woods from Ruby B I've posted a few of my experiences on here
before mostly the ones about when I was a CNA but before those I used to be a chaperon at my church's Youth Camp in my teenage years this story takes place in 2009 in a small City in Northern Alabama I won't say the city's name for the sake of privacy since I still live nearby but it was one of the strangest things I've ever experienced in 2009 I was a senior in high school I was taking exams and getting ready for graduation not to mention all the sports I played and I was working a full-time
job to pay off my car I was so busy and hadn't even given a thought about our Church's summer camp where the last 2 years I'd been one of these chaperon to the younger girls groups that is until I saw one of the girls parents after a track meet where she quickly reminded me her daughter was in my group this year and couldn't wait for our hike up to the lake where we all would swim and kick off the first day for the week of church camp me trying to act excited because let's face it
I was just ready to go home gave her a smile and said I couldn't wait either the next couple of weeks flew by and before you know it I was graduated and trying to figure out which bathing suit would be Church camp appropriate when my grandma who my sisters and I lived with came into my room to remind me of snakes and a pack bug spray she gave me a big hug and before leaving my room told me that she wanted me to be careful all the usual parental stuff I told her I would and
that I loved her then finished up packing and threw all my stuff in the corner to be loaded up in my car early the next morning the next morning came I packed my car ate some breakfast and said my goodbyes to my younger sisters and my grandma then I drove to the church we were all supposed to ride the bus together but a few of us older kids got to drive our cars so we had extra Transportation I chose to drive so I got two other girls to ride with me and we jammed our burnt
CDs for the 45-minute drive up to the camp the first day was what you would expect we unpacked and got assigned our groups and cabins then we all got dressed for the hike up to the lake and got our swimming stuff and our backpacks for our annual First Swim on our hike up to the lake my two friends and I noticed a house off into the woods which we had never seen in the few previous years we've been here but we thought hey maybe the owners of the camp built themselves a house out here I
mean it's beautiful and peaceful I couldn't blame them we kept walking and got to the lake where we spent a few hours watching kids and having some fun before it was time to go back for supper we wrangled the kids together and one girl walked in front one in the middle of the group while I followed behind to keep the kids from trying to stray off or getting lost we walked by where the house had been just a few hours ago and now it was gone all three of us looked at each other thinking are
we lost but no the trail was marked and we'd been doing this for years so we knew exactly where we were once back at Camp while the kids ate and we made our plates we asked the three guys our age who were there to watch after the boys if they had seen the house themselves or or if they knew anything about it none of them knew what we were even talking about and the oldest boy suggested a few of us go out after dark and check things out it was the oldest Boy Adam me and
one of the girls who had been with me earlier named Sarah the others chose to stay and watch the kids and would take their turn to go check it out the following night after we got all the kids to bed the three of us made sure we hadn't been spotted by any adult and took off with flashlights and our cell phones we hiked up to the spot and sure enough the house was back it was there and there was what looked to be a flickering light from a candle or Lantern in the front window we
could even make out some figures moving around inside we whispered and kept quiet so we didn't get any trouble we took some pictures to show the others then just left the following night the other three went to the house and saw the same thing we did and took their own pictures the boys that went with them even went up to the front porch but chickened out before looking through the window so now all of us had seen this little house in the woods we knew we weren't crazy but on the last day of camp we
all went back to the lake for the kids to swim and have fun before going home and I swear on everything the house was gone there was nothing but an empty clearing where we had seen it last and none of us knew what to make of it we asked the adults who were over us when we went to leave and they told us years ago the camp owners had a cabin there but in the late 80s it had burned down we all looked at each other and Adam flipped open his phone because you know we
had flip phones back then to our surprise the pictures were only black it was like that on all our phones I still talk to a couple of people from school and each time we talk we always bring up that house Adam thinks we were seeing something from the past I'm not sure what we saw but I know for a fact I saw that house if anyone knows anything about disappearing houses or buildings or what it could have been that happened to us I'd be interested in listening for now it's just a spooky story we tell
our kids the worst birthday of my life from Anonymous I live in a small town in the north of England where there's barely any crime because of this I had no problem with walking home after work at the local supermarket it was my 16th birthday and had been landed with a shift that ended at 10 p.m. my best friend lived close to the Tesco I worked at and had sent me a message saying to go to his and get my present so I did halfway between the supermarket and my friend Lee's house there's this forest
with a path going through it since it was absolutely freezing that night I stopped at the end of the path to contemplate going down it it wasn't very well lit so despite there being very little crime I decided against it and continued down the well-lit street I was barely 3 m down the street when I heard the gate at the beginning of the forest path open I looked back out of curiosity but what I saw made my heart stop in my chest a man stood there at least 6 and 1/2 feet tall he wore a
dark track suit and he had stopped right there and was looking at at me I didn't think anything of it at first Lee's neighborhood had a gang so I figured the guy was just part of said gang I just kept walking minding my own business suddenly I heard the man break into a run and I was terrified out of my mind so I ran faster than I ever had in my life risking a look behind me to see that the guy was indeed chasing after me I turned back back and kept running turning into the
main road of Lee's neighborhood there was an unspoken rule between the few criminals in my town that you never went after young girls so I knew this guy wasn't local if he got me there'd be almost no way to trace me I screamed for help hoping that the gang were around somewhere and that they'd come and help me the man started to shout at me to shut up I could feel him right behind me his breath breath on my neck I was so scared and for a second I thought I was going to die I
made it to Le vaulting his front fence and running up to the door praying that it was open but it wasn't figuring I might as well try to fight back I turned to the man trying to catch my breath so I'd have a chance against this Behemoth he couldn't Vault the fence he was too heavy so instead he was fiddling with the gate Lee opened the door at the same moment I heard hooting from down the street I was so relieved as I saw some of the actual local gang members chasing the man away they
got him by the time the police got there they'd beaten the man so badly he was in the hospital for a week turns out he was a known child assaulter from down south and just a few days before he had assaulted another young girl to this day every time I see the gang I say thanks to them I dread to think what would have happened if he'd made it to me or if he'd escaped the gang and gone on to do it again I never walked home from work again four stories from four friends from
cricket girl 20 these four stories come from four friends who I'll call Ash Mike Sue and Kai this first story comes from Ash it will be from his point of view I was working the night shift at the gas station I worked at it was just me that night it was quiet except for the hum of the refrigerators and the radio that was on I never liked that job but it was a job there weren't that many customers but I felt grateful for the customers who did come in because working alone at a gas station
is pretty creepy sometimes and boring about 3 hours into the shift a guy who looked like he was in his early 30s came in he saw right away that I seemed on edge and asked you all right dude I replied yeah I'm fine just working alone at night the customer responded would you like some company for a bit I'm in no hurry I took him up on the offer and he bought some snacks and drinks then he sat at a stool that was in front of the counter I'll refer to him as Jay and felt
better being around someone else about an hour later Jay went to the bathroom about 5 seconds after he went in another person walked in and he seemed nervous he grabbed a bag of chips and a bottle of soda as I scanned his items I saw that he had his hand behind behind his back as I told him the price Jay came back from the bathroom and the other customer seemed surprised that there was someone else in the store he removed his hand from his back and placed the money on the counter and said keep the
change he then quickly walked out that's when my new friend came up and said uh that guy had a hammer tucked in the back of his pants I saw it I think he might have been planning to Rob this place I felt my blood run cold I never even saw the outline of the hammer under his shirt for some reason we didn't think about calling the cops because the guy didn't really do anything I said this job isn't worth the chance of getting injured or worse so I placed the close sign on the door locked
up the gas station and Jay gave me a ride home I never called my boss and I never went back the gas station was shut down not too long afterwards I'm still friends with Jay and I'm thankful he stayed with me during that shift he may have just saved my life the next story comes from Mike I was on my computer at home on a rainy night I was recently hired on as a remote customer service representative and my dog kit was lying next to my desk I was in the middle of helping a customer
when kit began to grab now kit is usually a calm dog only barking or growling when he needs to even though he's a German shepher border colly mix and Border Collies are known to be some of the most vocal dogs but kit wasn't like that so I was a bit worried that someone or something was outside after I got done helping the customer I went to the front door to make sure it was locked up and did the same to the back door I didn't see anything but I was still freaked out I clocked out
and made myself some dinner and I gave kid some leftover pasta from 2 days back while I was eating kit lifted his head and growled again then there was a knock at the front door I slowly got up with kit behind me and I opened the inside door while keeping the screen door closed and locked there was a man on my porch he seemed happy that IID opened the door but once he saw that kit was there who was doing a low territorial growl the smile faded from the man's face and he said out loud
oh you have a dog I then noticed a person walking from the side of my house and I instantly had a bad feeling I asked um can I help you the man replied can I come in and use your phone I heard a voice in my head don't let him in he's up to no good so I told him no I'm sorry I don't let people I don't know into my house kit must have sensed I was scared so he started to snarl and the guy began to walk away A car pulled up and he
got inside I could see the outline of two other people in that car I watched them as they drove away I didn't call the cops because I wasn't sure what to say a guy came to my door asking to use the phone and my dog growled at him I haven't seen those guys since and I'm thankful kit was vocal that night the next story comes from Sue I was dog sitting for my aunt she was out of town at the time on a business trip she asked me if I could watch her doberman pincher named
Tater once I got to the house my aunt was already gone and tater ran over to me the day went by as usual I followed the instructions my aunt had left and as night fell I was sitting on the couch with tater I was watching some scary movie when Tater suddenly jumped off the couch and ran towards the back door and started to growl I followed him and saw that the door knob was turning as if someone was trying to open the door that's when I recalled my aunt had a security system so I went
to the room with the CCTV and checked the camera that was by the back door sure enough someone was trying to open it they wore a mask and gloves and once Tater began barking the person ran off I debated whether to call the police and I did but they weren't able to do much because the person was masked and gloved when I called my aunt after everything was over she said she'd be driving home the next day I cuddled with tater that night on the couch telling him how much he was a good boy after
my aunt got home she hugged me and tater and that's that and now is Kai's story this happened when I was riding my bike home from work one day I was riding through a quiet neighborhood I was lost in thought about something so I didn't see the guy running towards me until his fist went right across my face I fell from my bike scraping my arms and knees really bad when I looked up I saw the guy riding away with my bike I sat there asking myself what just happened a nice little old lady was
driving by and asked if I needed ride I accepted and told her my story when she dropped me off at home I gave her 10 bucks for gas and went inside I cleaned myself up and reported it to the police it was all so random and quick that someone can just come up assault you and take your things UFO experience from Brian DT this happened to me about 3 years back I live in a college town in North Carolina and work at a Pharmaceutical Plant in town I used to work four 10hour shifts Monday through
Thursday and it required me to be at work at 5:00 a.m. on those days I've always been the type to give myself plenty of time to get ready so I'd wake up at 3:30 a.m. to take my dog out and get ready for work my street is a short road with just about 14 tow houses on it it's not right in the city but also not out in the desolate country my routine at 3:30 a.m. was to take my dog about 150 y down to the road that my street was off of so he could
use the bathroom and then come back I did have a girlfriend at the time but I lived alone I remember it was a Thursday morning because my trash cans were out by the road waiting to be collected I put my shoes on and walked out the door with my dog for his usual potty I locked the door from the inside before walking out and looking back on it I don't know why because normally I just left it unlocked and cracked so that it would look shut if anyone happened to drive by as soon as the
locked door shut and we stepped outside I immediately got an odd feeling almost as if someone was watching me but I brushed it off and my dog and I made our way down the the driveway a few feet I started to look around and I quickly noticed something very odd between the town house directly across the street and the one to the left there was something unrecognizable suspended in the air it looked like three spheres a little bigger than basketballs overlapping each other it looked like a VIN diagram and the Spheres were see-through I had
no earthly idea what I was looking at but my initial thought was that I needed to take a picture of it so with my dog's leash in one hand I pulled my phone out with the other and I was trying to access my camera on my phone as I was doing that something happened about 50 ft above the house directly across the street it was as if someone flipped a light switch and four Bright Lights appeared out of nowhere revealing a black rectangular craft that I almost could have thrown a rock at and hit it
it did not make a single sound and had no other features other than being black and having lights on the four corners of it I dragged my dog back to the front door fumbling with the keys to get back in wondering why in the world I had locked the front door to begin with I called my girlfriend probably hysterical as I peaked at this craft from my kitchen blinds she thought someone had died and tried to keep me calm for about 10 minutes I was peing at the object every couple of seconds for about half
an hour until finally I went to look again and it was gone but the Spheres were still between the houses across the street and I knew in my mind that thing was still around because the two objects had to be related in some way I was on the threshold of being late for work but wondering was anyone else going to come outside this early and see this thing should I knock on my neighbor's door another half hour went by and I finally noticed both objects were gone I never saw or heard it actually leave it
was barely starting to get light out and I ran to my car and bolted out the driveway I even clipped my trash can on the way out not caring to stop and pick it up since then I've never had a similar experience but I'm very sure of one thing whatever was out there was highly Advanced and not of this world Shadow nightmares from Morgan Rose 91 I live in a small town in the countryside of New York near a reservation this all started when I was 2 years old my mother has told me all about
the night terrors I would have between the ages of two to 5 the first time apparently I'd wake anytime between 12:00 to 3:00 a.m. my eyes would be wide open and I'd be standing upright in my crib or bed she would notice my finger pointing to the left corner every night saying he's here after I would go back to sleep and I wouldn't remember doing such a thing the next day this stopped once I turned 5 years old and went away for for a couple of years then a reoccurrence happened when I turned 21 that's
when it started to get weird I started seeing a shadow of a little boy in the corner of my current room he would just sit there and stare and then suddenly disappear about a month before my 22nd birthday I was on my way to work at 6:00 a.m. I was driving a little tired but of course awake and cautious I wasn't sure if I was hallucinating or if I actually saw a person but someone who was about 6 ft tall walked across the throughway it was just a black shadow I nearly swerved off the road
and decided to pull over for a bit when I turned my head back around I looked and there was no one there so I thought maybe I was just really tired and imagining it about 2 weeks later I was heading to bed and fell asleep this is where I got scared and terrified for the life of me I was in a dreamlike state it looked like I was inside a building with Japanese sliding doors I felt lost and confused because it felt so real next thing I knew the doors opened it was the same shadow
figure I'd seen on the throughway that one day but this time I could make out features and and they were taller closer to 9 or 10 ft tall it had bright red eyes as if there was a fire burning in them when I thought I was awake which I somehow wasn't I saw it it was standing right above me hovering over me in my bed my body froze up as if I was paralyzed I couldn't move anything or even shut my eyes I was basically in shock and felt like I couldn't even scream but I
managed to yell my sister's name I'll call her L I yelled for L twice thinking it was 3:00 a.m. and then when I went to look up it was gone when my alarm for work went off I got up and went to work having a normal day but when I got home I had to ask my sister did you hear me this morning she replied yes but it didn't sound like me yelling or Screaming to her it sounded like like I was whispering but I sounded scared that's when she told me an hour before my
alarm went off she felt uneasy it felt as if she knew something was bound to happen it's now March of 2023 and I saw it again for the last time hopefully my car was parked in my spot and usually I turn around to check making sure my headlights shut off this time when I turned around to look there it was standing right in front of the hood of my car staring straight at me who is in the closet from Katy my friend's dad is a police officer one time he told me and a few other
girls a story when we were on a road trip this story occurred a few years ago for the sake of privacy I'll call him Larry the police department that Larry works at got a call one day from an old woman she was calling to report a possible ghost or demon in her home Larry and another officer were told to go to her house and see what was actually wrong so they got in their car and drove over the neighborhood her house was located was rather small and pretty sketchy but so were most of the neighborhoods
he had to investigate when they got there they were greeted by an old frail woman wearing a tattered night gown her house was very dark the only light in there was the light coming in from the single window she told them she had been hearing noises coming from closets in the basement but that she lived alone and thought her house might be haunted there was a coat closet in the room where they had entered and she asked them to look in there Larry walked over to the closet and opened it slowly he then felt arms
grab him trying to pull him into the closet he struggled with them but eventually freed himself Larry backed away from the closet and he and his friend headed towards the door but the old woman stood in front of it she tried to convince them to stay and look in the other rooms but they knew by now that there was no actual problem this screwed up old woman wanted to trapped them in her house or something much worse they eventually got past her and ran out the door she tried to chase them but being a frail
old lady could not catch up to them they got back in their car and hight tailed it out of there there he told me he remembered looking back at the house and seeing the old woman standing in the doorway the most Eerie glare on her face watching them drive away and to make things worse there was a very tall man standing slightly behind her that they suspected was the man from the closet there even told me that things like this aren't rare occurrences and he has to deal with stuff like this pretty regularly but despite
all the messed up stuff that happens he still continues to work as a police officer street cleaner from Subway today in '94 I was working as a street cleaner for the City of New York it was a job I'd been doing for 3 years always at night 11:00 p.m. to 7: a.m. five nights a week now the city's different at night quieter in some ways and louder in others I was assigned to the Lower East Side back then it was still pretty rough not like the Hipster Paradise it is now lots of abandoned buildings drug
deals going down in the shadows but I minded my own business people generally left me alone I had my route my routine I kept my head down did my job and went home that was the plan anyway it was a Tuesday night in October I remember because the weather had just started to turn cold and I dug out my old work jacket for the first time that season the Zipper was busted but it did the job I'd started my shift as usual working my way down to Essex Street nothing out of the ordinary some drunks
stumbling out of bars a couple of cats fighting over garbage the usual around 2:00 a.m. I turned onto Orchard Street that's when things started to get strange first thing I noticed was the smell now now working this job you do get used to all sorts of nasty odors but this was different it was like I don't know I would say like rotten eggs mixed with something metallic it made my eyes water I figured maybe a sewer line had burst or something along those lines wouldn't be the first time that happened so I kept going trying
to breathe through my mouth as I got further down the street the smell got stronger that's when I noticed how quiet it got I mean it was always pretty quiet at that hour but this was different no cars no distant Sirens not even the hum of air conditioners just nothing completely unnatural I remember feeling the hairs on the back of my neck stand up something wasn't right but I couldn't put my finger on what I thought about radioing it in but I wasn't sure what to say Beyond hey it smells bad out here and it's
really quiet they'd think I was goofing around I kept going my cart's wheels seemed extra loud in the silence echoing off the buildings I was about halfway down the block when I saw something there was an alley between two old tenement buildings and something was moving in the sh Shadows normally I would ignore something like this maybe it was a junkie or a homeless person beding down for the night but something made me stop and look closer the movement was all wrong it was Jerky like a stop motion film I stood there just watching it
for a moment I could hear my heart pounding in my ears I wanted run but some morbid part of me wanted to keep watching like instinctual curiosity or maybe just stupidity slowly the thing in the alley started to come into focus it was tall 7 or 8 ft and impossibly thin arms hanging down past its knees ending in Long spindly fingers and its face looked as if someone had taken a human face and stretched it out like Silly Putty it hung from its skull its eyes were huge bulging out of its head and its mouth
was open in the Silent Scream its jaw unhinged like a snake I gasped and struggled to breathe it felt like time stopped the thing tilted its head and looked right at me and then it started to move that same jerky motion coming right at me luckily I snapped out of it by then I dropped my broom and ran didn't even think about it just ran I could hear something behind me a wet slapping sound like bare feet on pavement but wet and heavy I ran like you wouldn't believe turning corners without looking just trying desperately
to get away but I don't know how long I ran maybe hours maybe less but I ran until I simply couldn't anymore I ducked into a doorway gasping for air and looked back the street behind me was empty no sign of whatever that thing was but the silence remained the unnatural quiet that made my skin crawl I stood there for a while trying to catch my breath straining my ears for any odd sound but there was there was nothing after a long while I heard a car horn in the distance then a siren the normal
sounds of the city started to filter back in whatever bubble I'd been trapped in I guess I'd escaped I made my way back to the depot in a days my supervisor asked where my cart was and I just mumbled something about not feeling too well he must have seen it on my face because he didn't ask any more questions he told me to go home and get some rest I called and sick the next day not exactly ready to go back out night on those streets when I went back to work the day after I
practically begged to be assigned a different route I told them the Lower East Side was too rough and I was being hassled by some gangbangers and thank God they did have something else available for me I kept doing my work as a street cleaner for a while but that event had its effects on me I was pretty Jumpy the darker it got the more I would look over my shoulders these days I'm in New Jersey got a new job as a janitor at a cozy High School the hours are as normal as the people but
I'll never forget what happened that night in New York City Grandpa Joe's disturbing tale from JC braver Grandpa Joe never talked much about the war most of what I knew came from old photos and the occasional comment when he'd had a few too many beers but there was one story he told me just once when I was about 12 we went camping in the ader on Dax back in the summer of 1998 on a cloudy night with no stars visible we had just finished roasting marshmallows and the fire was dying down to Embers Grandpa Joe
was staring into the Flames with a distant look in his eyes and then he started to talk you know Tommy he said his voice low there are things out there you can't explain things that make no sense he paused taking a swig from his flask I saw something like that in N never told anyone about it not even your grandma I leaned in closer my interest peaked Grandpa Joe hardly ever mentioned Vietnam why he had suddenly decided to open up I had no idea but I wasn't about to question it it was 1968 he continued
I was with the ninth Infantry Division stationed down in the Mong Delta a nasty place all mud and mosquitoes and Viet Kong hiding in the grass we' been on patrol for 3 Days slogging through rice patties and dense jungles I hadn't seen any action but the tension was thick you could feel eyes on you all the time you know that feeling he shook his head as if trying to clear away the memory anyway on the third night we set up camp near this old Buddhist temple real ancient looking place all overgrown with vines rco said
it was abandoned but something about it gave me the creeps like it was watching us too grandpa Joe's hands were shaking slightly as he lit a cigarette it was strange to me I'd never seen him like that before I was on first watch that night sitting there in the dark straining my ears for any sound it was quiet no insects buzzing no birds nothing just dead silence then around midnight I heard it a sort of chanting low and rhythmic coming from the direction of the Temple he took a long drag on his cigarette the Ember
glowing bright in the dark I thought maybe it was monks the lieutenant had said the temple was empty but what did he know for sure so I woke up my bud Matthews told him I was going to check it out he thought I was crazy but he agreed to cover for me Grandpa Joe's eyes were distant now like he was seeing something far beyond our little campsite I made my way towards the temple M16 at the ready the chanting was getting louder but I couldn't make out the words didn't sound like Vietnamese didn't sound like
any language I'd ever heard as I got closer I saw a faint light coming from inside the temple flickering like candles he paused taking another Swig from his flask I crept up to one of those windows peered inside and what I saw Jesus I still have nightmares about it there were figures in there maybe a dozen of them they were dancing I guess you'd call it that they were moving in this slow weird way but I don't think they were human Tommy their limbs were too long and they they bent in ways they shouldn't and
their faces Grandpa Joe shuddered their faces were just wrong each of their features had been placed somewhere else rearranged eyes where the mouth should be noses Twisted sideways and I swear they were glowing giving off a sickly greenish light I felt a chill run down my spine despite the warmth of the fire nearby I must have made a sound or something because suddenly they all stopped dancing they turned and they looked right at me I Ran So Fast boy I didn't stop until I got back to Camp Matthews asked me what happened but I couldn't
tell him couldn't tell anyone Grandpa Joe went silent for a minute staring into the fading Embers of the campfire the next morning the lieutenant sent a squad to check out the temple they said it was empty they found no signs of anyone being there for years but I know what I saw Tommy those things were real he turned to look at me his eyes deadly serious I thought that was the end of it even convinced myself it was just stress and lack of sleep but a week later we were on another Patrol different area miles
from that Temple we were ambushed by the VC heavy firefight in the chaos I got separated from my unit found myself alone in the small clearing Grandpa Joe's voice dropped to nearly a whisper now that's when I saw it again when one of those things from the temple just standing there at the edge of the clearing watching me it wasn't moving wasn't making any sound but I could feel it hunger like it wanted to devour me Body and Soul he took a shaky breath I raised my rifle ready to unload every round I had into
that thing but before I could pull the trigger it just vanished a second later Sergeant Miller crashed through the underbrush yelling at me to fall back again I never mentioned what I'd seen to anyone no one was going to believe it they'd think I'd gone mad my battle brothers would stop trusting me if they thought I was crazy thought I couldn't handle it out there Grandpa Joe fell silent again lost in thought I didn't know what to say to him part of me wanted to believe it was just a story something he was making up
on the spot to scare the ever loving but Jesus out of me but the look in his eyes i' had never seen my grandfather so shaken you know what the worst part is Tommy he said at last sometimes I think they followed me home I'll catch a glimpse of something out of the corner of my eye maybe wake up in the middle of the night feeling like I'm being watched and for a split second I'm back in that jungle staring at those things I don't know what they were Spirits demons some kind of jungle creatures
we've never discovered but they were real and I guarantee you they're still out there somewhere he turned to me then his face very serious I'm telling you this because you need to know Tommy the world isn't always what it seems there are things out there we can't explain and sometimes it's better not to try sometimes ignorance really is bliss with that he fell silent we sat there for a while the fade ated fire still crackling a bit eventually Grandpa Joe stood up said he was turning in for the night but before he went into his
tent he paused without looking at me he said Tommy don't tell your grandma about this or anyone else for that matter I think it's best it stays between us with that he'd gone in his tent leaving me alone with the Embers and my thoughts I didn't sleep much that night I kept imagining shapes moving in the dark beyond the campsite every rustle of leaves or a snap of a twig made me jump I would tell myself it was just animals or the wind but Grandpa Joe's story really got me the next morning Grandpa Joe acted
like nothing had happened we packed up the camp drove home and never spoke about the details of that night again but I never did forget the story which is why I'm writing it here right now years later Grandpa Joe passed away when I was in college he had a heart attack according to the doctors but at the funeral I overheard one of his old war buddies talking said Joe had called him the night before rambling on about seeing things in the dark and my mind went right back to this story I wonder how much of
it was true horrors of the ocean from Lloyd the freak I served on a certain ship as a seaman I'll refer to it as ussh by this point I'd been on ussh for about 6 months my rank was low on the totem pole but I was okay with that the work was hard and it kept me busy and the crew was solid we were on a routine Patrol in the South Pacific when this happened it was October 2012 we'd been tracking a tropical depression for a few days but the weather folks assured us it wouldn't
amount to much well let me tell you they were dead wrong the storm hit us like a freight train around 2100 hours one minute we were cruising under Cloudy Skies the next we were in the middle of Hell itself waves the size of buildings slammed into the ship winds howling like banshees I was on Deck when it all started helping secure some equipment petty officer Gman was yelling something at me but his words were ripped away by the wind now that's when I saw it a flash of lightning lit up the sky and for a
split second I SW where I saw something in the water something real big at first I thought it was a whale but it was moving too fast cutting through the waves like they were nothing and its shape didn't quite match up with that of a whale it was long and sinuous with what looked like multiple fins or tentacles thrashing in the water it moved quickly enough that after I blinked it was gone for the sake of my I told myself I'd imagined it the storm was playing tricks on my eyes but then I looked over
at Gan he was staring at the exact same spot face pale as a sheet he'd seen it too we didn't really have time to dwell on it the storm was getting worse by the second we scrambled below deck soaked to the bone shaking for more than just the cold the ship was pitching violently and I could hear the whole creaking and groaning under the assault of the waves for hours we rode out that storm most of the crew were ordered to their bunks but sleep was impossible the noise alone was terrifying the constant Roar of
the wind crashing waves the ominous groans of stressed metal and Underneath It All there was a sound I couldn't quite place a low pulsing hum that seemed to to vibrate through the entire ship around 0300 things started to calm down the violent pitching of the ship eased and the howling of the wind died down to a dull roar I was just starting to think we might be in the clear when the alarms went off Red emergency lights flooded the corridors and the ship's PA system crackled alive commanding all hands to stations this is not a
drill repeat all hands to stations I scrambled out of my bunk pulse quickening as I made my way to my station I overheard bits of conversation the radar was malfunctioning Communications were down and there was something in the water something circling the ship when I reached the deck the scene was chaos officers were shouting orders crew members were running back and forth and there off the port side I I saw it again a massive shape just beneath the surface of the water it was pacing us keeping perfect speed with the ship every now and then
a part of it would break the surface and I would see it a fin a tentacle I couldn't tell but it was huge easily as long as our Destroyer for hours we watched it Circle us the captain ordered depth charges deployed but they had no effect whatever that thing was it was too big too fast possibly even too smart to be deterred by our weapons as Dawn broke the creature finally disappeared Into the Depths but our ordeal was far from over strange things started to happen all over the ship electrical systems would fail for no
reason crew members reported hearing whispers in empty corridors and then they were the nightmares every night I would dream of vast dark oceans and enormous shapes moving just below the surface I'd wake up gasping for air feeling like I was drowning and the crazy part was I wasn't the only one the whole crew was having the same dreams we were all on edge finding ourselves arguing over nothing incidents kept piling up tools would go missing only to turn up in impossible places the ship's Compass started spinning wildly making navigation and Nightmare and then there were
the sounds late at night when things were supposed to be quiet you could hear it a faint melodic humming coming from somewhere deep in the ship but every time someone went to investigate it would stop by this point the crew was at a Breaking Point fights were breaking out over the smallest things people were seeing things and hearing things the captain was contemplating just heading back to Port but every time we tried to change course the navigation systems went haywire those days were a blur but we managed to limp our way towards Port when we
finally made it it was like waking up from a long terrible nightmare as soon as we docked half the crew refused to set foot on the ship again can't say I blamed them I stuck around long enough to give my report to the Brass then I was out and I had one lesson to take with me the ocean is a big dark and terrifying place and we'll never truly know what lurks beneath thanks for tuning in to Tales from the breakroom the home of the scariest true work stories if you want to hear your story
story narrated by me send it to me at east.com SLS submit we pay 5 cents per word for accepted stories help us grow by leaving Tales from the breakroom a rating and review on Spotify and apple podcasts and be sure to follow us on your favorite podcast app check out Eerie cast.com or search for eercast on those very same podcast apps to see our other exciting and terrifying podcasts like unexplained encounters the other show I host where I read stories with a focus on the supernatural to get some merch go to Eerie cast. store and
to unlock add free episodes of your favorite eercast shows and exclusive audio books go to Eerie cast.com plusus and consider signing up for Eerie cast plus you can follow me on Twitter I guess it's X now @ dark prevails you can also subscribe to me on YouTube where I deliver the same content just look for Darkness prevents good night I hope we can share another break sometime soon
