10 Nightmarish TRUE Scary Stories | Home Alone, Stalker, Creepy Encounters - Ripshy.

Foreign to start this off by saying that I don't condone any of the behavior of what my friends and I did on this particular night I'm well aware that this whole thing could have been avoided had my friends and I not have been such dumbasses I made a huge mistake as well it was mid-summer like the second week of August to be exact Ly my parents were gone for the weekend for some wedding out of town and I had the house to myself as a 17 year old I was pretty happy about being alone for

the weekend my parents trusted me too because I wasn't really the type of kid to get into trouble really I mean I had a few screw-ups here and there at school but nothing major I didn't smoke or drink at all and neither did most of my friends but this Night was different it all started out as a normal night of me playing on my Xbox with my friends when one of them mentioned that we should sneak out I wasn't necessarily opposed to this idea but I wasn't really fond of it nor was I that interested

didn't sound like much fun to me what are we going to do anyway walk around outside then what you know that's when Elias mentioned we should do Something a little crazy there was this house down the street that was abandoned or so we thought at the time we weren't 100 sure some weird girl that used to ride our bus for years lived there but they must have moved out because one day she stopped getting on the bus and after a few months this house looked like a ghost town the grass was really overgrown and you

could tell the property wasn't being Maintained at all Elias convinced me to go so I told him I was down and I asked him what our plan was he told me we'll figure it out when we get there the house sits on the corner of two intersecting back roads in the country the two-story white house with a big garage behind it you rode our bikes there because it was kind of far to walk When we got there we immediately hit our bikes and ran up to the back door but of course it was locked he

then tried the front door as well but it was also locked we ran back to the back door and we were going to try to kick it down or break the handle with a sledgehammer that we found sitting on the side of the property be sorry by kicking the door but it wasn't budging so he went to plan B Elias started hitting the door handle and after like five or six swings he finally cracked it we opened the door and slowly stepped inside all we had was the flashlights on our phones to see there's Pitch

Black in there and the house was an absolute mess everything scattered all around the floor and it was nasty definitely not cleaned by any standards at all As soon as we walked in we noticed a door that was adjacent to the door we walked in from it led to the downstairs area took a peek down there holy dude this place looks like something straight out of a horror movie that gave me the creeps I wasn't feeling ballsy enough to check it out down there yet not until we at least checked out the rest of the

house anyways We scavenger away through the house and we didn't find much just a bunch of clutter and useless scattered around he then walked upstairs and checked out all the rooms all right bro we might as well just leave I said wait did you hear that Elias asked why did I hear what listen dumbass Frozen fear when I heard what he was Talking about dude there's somebody in here shut the up Devin Elias said Jesus man you're gonna get us caught idiot we sat and listened for a little while as the noise continued it sounded

like somebody was rummaging through a bunch of boxes or drawers or something then what we feared most was coming true we heard steps heading towards the Stairs bro let's go I said he ran to one of their rooms and a lot of us hit in the closet but I on the other hand started to open the window I was making a lot of noise but I didn't really care my only focus was getting the hell out of the house hey dude what are you doing don't freaking leave what the heck come on bro I said

we gotta go That's when I jumped out the window onto the windowsill and I dropped it down as carefully as possible I hurt my leg pretty bad but I landed better than I expected I would Elias started yelling and told me to wait for him so I did hurry up man you don't have much time I said that was when I ran behind a tree to try and camouflage myself after that Elias made a leap and he Didn't land as well as I did and he ended up hurting himself worse luckily he was still able

to limp a little on his own he made his way over to the tree and he sat down to catch his breath bro we seriously have to go I said are you okay by the way he just looked at me with an obvious look that I read no he obviously wasn't okay suddenly we heard some people talking Next door thankfully it was the neighbors he started walking that way keep in mind this was the country and the houses were pretty far apart we realized we couldn't look through them for help though considering we technically just

committed a crime I think we felt a form of comfort though realizing there were other people out there if it came down to a life or death situation He walked a ways further from the vacant house and found a better hiding spot to hang tight at while we got Elias's ankle situated after a few minutes we started to hear a bunch of loud noises and people yelling from the house that we had just broken into it must have been four or five people in there then bam out of nowhere there were like 10 to 15

rounds let off Of what sounded like an AR-15 or something crazy like that I started to freak the hell out and we ended up running away as fast as we could with Elias's ankle being the way it was we had to take a long walk back home I'm talking about a three and a half mile detour practically the whole way home I had to carry my half mobile friend who could barely even limp anymore without my help Took us a good couple hours to get home and we heard more gunshots from those crazy rednecks I

don't know what would have happened if we would have run into them I don't know if they were squatters or if they owned the house or what the hell was going on with them but a few months later we heard on the news that someone was shot and killed in that house they never called the guys who did it Though and ever since I can't help but wonder what the happened we never got a good look at the people either but I know that they knew we were there you try to come back for our

bikes a few nights later but they were gone so they must have taken them it's crazy to think that someone died in that house literally murdered while we were there that easily could have been us If we would have been found in there we would have been killed for being a witness I'm sure of it I female 23 was recently in Africa on vacation with my family and we stayed two nights at a desert camp in the Sahara the first night my sister and I were talking about hanging out with the guys who worked there

who were all probably around ages 20 to 35. seemed like they were just very friendly And harmless I noticed at the campfire that night that one of the guys started paying more attention to me and I felt a little uncomfortable by it but I figured it was just a language barrier or something so out in the desert you can see the stars really well and even the Milky Way on clear nights but you have to wait for the moon to go down which is around 2 A.M I guess it's a normal thing for the guys

To come around to the tents which are luxury tents furnished with beds lights a toilet and shower as well there's a lock on the doors so not normal camping I guess it was normal for them to come and knock on the door to see if he were awake and want to come look at the stars my sister and I were sharing a tent and my parents were in a separate one across the walkway the first night around midnight I told my sister I was too tired to go out Because I was falling asleep so she

left to look at the stars without me and I didn't lock the door because I didn't want her to get locked out if I fell asleep fast forward about an hour and I'm on my side of sleep when I wake up Suddenly to see a head peeking in from the tent door I thought it was my sister so I groverly asked her what the are you doing because it was just weird the way she was standing there I start to wake up more and I realized that it's this guy from The Campfire and his head

was peeking in my room while I was asleep now I know it could have been a simple misunderstanding but I felt totally violated with my privacy especially because we were on their territory in the middle of the desert like I'm not kidding we had to take a 30 minute truck ride into the dunes I was in fight or flight at that moment You literally woke me up with a panic attack and I started to feel extremely nervous and on edge so I went to the door and I told him I was tired kept trying to

get me to come out to the dunes with a blanket but I just kept saying no and that I didn't feel good and that I was tired which was true at this moment I don't know where my sister is and I don't know where my family is I'm disoriented and all I know is that this man is standing in front of me and was literally just watching me sleep I don't know how long he was there for it could have been a literal second or it could have been two minutes but either way I was

high key horrified I told him no again and I said that I go look at the stars tomorrow night he told me that he wouldn't be at the camp the next night and that's why he wanted to go out tonight but I wouldn't Budge once he realized I wasn't going to come outside he asked me if he could have my number and I told him no that I had a boyfriend I don't actually have a boyfriend but it seemed like the only way this man would respect my disinterest by knowing there was another man in

the picture after I said that he asked me for my first name and I gave it to him because I thought it wouldn't do any harm And then I say good night and lock the door this time I went right to the bathroom and I had diarrhea not important I just wanted to show that he scared the literal out of me and while I was on the toilet I heard him come back and start calling my name from outside the tent but I just stayed quiet and I didn't say anything I finished in the bathroom

and I lied Down in my bed still trying to calm down from what just happened because my heart was racing I heard him come back again calling my name I laid in bed still as I could and I didn't say anything tried texting my dad but he wasn't answering and I didn't feel comfortable leaving the tent finally my sister came back and my dad was with her so I told him what just Happened and they were confused and they thought it was weird and that was kind of it the next day I brought it up

at breakfast again and my sister and Dad basically told me I was being dramatic and that I should just stop talking about it already and that it wasn't that big of a deal my mom was the only one who agreed with me that it was weird the second night my sister and I were Both out under the stars talking to the guys and relaxing keep in mind it's very dark and you can't see any faces so I was having a normal convo with this one guy I couldn't see him but all is well after a

while he asks me if I remember him and I'm like well no I can't see you oh shine a light then he said so I do and wouldn't you guess it's the same dude from my tennis last night I especially wasn't expecting him to be the dude in front of me because he had just told me he wouldn't be there that night which leads me to believe he picked up a shift just to see me but I can't be too sure either that or he was lying about not being there the next night in an

attempt to get me out there with him but surprisingly he was fine that night and he respected my boundaries so I Didn't say anything to the guys who ran the camp however I was planning on doing so if he did anything remotely that made me uncomfortable but he didn't the next morning we left the area and a few days later I started getting message requests on Instagram would you believe that this guy found me I tagged the entire desert in the pics I posted like you're telling me he found me based On my name in

a location not even a specific location an entire desert my name isn't unique either anyway he messages me and although I'm creeped out I'm also thinking okay well now he's harmless I might as well see what he says he says direct quote you know I'm really happy to find your account I was looking for a long time which I found highly creepy to even say To someone but again it could just be a cultural difference who knows I didn't answer him and he messaged me again a few days later saying hey how are you but

I didn't answer so yeah I guess I'm just curious what you guys think about this and if I was really overreacting or if you think my literal gut feeling was right seemed to be harmless in the end but you Never know this whole situation started when I was a teenager I am now in my late 20s and I'm a woman it was one small conversation that I had completely forgotten about until two years ago but in the past two-ish years more things have happened that made me really think about that short conversation I was about

13 and my mom and I just moved back in with my grandma where my Uncle was already living at the time his friend was living with us as well who's only staying for a few months I never knew why I just knew he was staying there one day while the friend was out of the house my uncle sat me down and told me he didn't want me to be alone with his friend that I needed to call him if I found myself alone with his friend only about a week after my mom and I Moved

in my uncle kicked his friend out I was young and I didn't think much about the conversation and I had completely forgotten about it about two years ago my uncle very suddenly and unexpectedly passed away after he passed his friend came back into my grandma's life I think my Grandma Connie used my uncle's friend as a replacement for my uncle and at first everything seemed fine But after a few visits I started feeling weird around him and I didn't know why and I remembered that conversation my uncle had with me but I tried to move

past it because it was over 10 years ago that we had that conversation and he is married to a lovely woman so I thought maybe things had changed he made a lot of dumb jokes that I never found funny but were always harmless like here's an example Sometimes I would come home with a bowl of snacks in it because my co-workers and I shared our snacks with each other and he would ask where his share was small stuff like that but then sometimes he made jokes about what I was wearing that would make me feel

a little uncomfortable but I was used to my family making similar jokes so I brushed It Off things like oh who are you trying to impress going out like that And you must be fighting off men left and right in other similar comments I started to avoid leaving my room at that point when he would come over but sometimes interactions with him are unavoidable because he would be here when I was getting home from work or he would come over without warning another bit of backstory I'm engaged to a man who lives in a different

country and with all the times That I've gone to visit him I have really fallen in love with where he lives on top of that it's more affordable and overall much safer for us to live there so we are working on moving me there to be with him well I don't tell my uncle's friend anything because he makes me uncomfortable but I know my grandma shares everything with him So he knows all about this situation and he has on more than one occasion asked me why I was moving and I would explain that it's because

that's where my fiance lives and I absolutely love everything about where he lives my uncle's friend will always come back with oh of course it's for a boy and he's also made comments along the lines of oh I guess you're in love I just don't understand it but whatever like he acts bothered that I'm engaged And moving away but again I would just hide myself away in my room and constantly convince myself that I was reading into things and overreacting I also knew I couldn't say anything to my grandma about it because my family is

one of those like if you don't want comments you need to cover yourself up I'm not allowed to wear shorts around male family members because if they look at me and have bad thoughts then it's my Fault now all of these small instances were very uncomfortable for me but I just ignored them hid in my room did what I could to avoid the situations but then something happened today and now I'm just feeling icky I went into work and my co-worker told me how yesterday a man fitting the description to a t my uncle's friend

came into my work in the afternoon after I had already left asking about me Any new details like what it looks like where I lived even details about my move to another country and he made comments about being my uncle's friend now I didn't hear any of this as I already had left for the day but my co-worker is a very trustworthy person and doesn't just come up with this kind of stuff for fun she'll even be the first one to call someone out on their BS if she catches Them lying so I trust what

she's saying is true but he was saying however since my uncle had passed he has been trying to see me more and more because he just cares about me and sees me as his daughter that comment alone weirded me out because I've barely interacted with this man and I avoid it at all costs so why does he feel that close to me he also started talking at length about my move to another country and he Wouldn't leave the topic just kept talking about how he doesn't get how I could fall in love with someone so

far away and how I should just stay here and find someone here to fall in love with he was making other comments basically about how he doesn't approve for my move to be with my fiance this man is weirdly obsessed with me I never told him where I worked but I know my grandma probably did It still weirds me out that he came into my workplace looking for me and then talking at length with my co-workers about my choices and my future and how he doesn't like it when I barely know him I just can't

wait to get out of this house and move far away from him so the story took place when I was 12. it is more than half my lifespan ago but I still get really uneasy when thinking back to it Tried to block it from my mind and not guess as to what could have happened if it wasn't for the two kind strangers that helped me I was walking home from school one day it was a four kilometer walk along a busy road I was alone however one of the intersections I cross there was a tall

dirty looking man that noticed me I would guess his age was early 30s but being a kid back then I struggled Telling the age of adults he started following me and trying to strike up a conversation he kept telling me that I was beautiful and that he wanted us to be friends you asked me where I lived and if my parents would be home and you asked me many more questions but I tried to shrug him off and be polite I didn't really answer any of his questions just increase the pace at which I walked

When we were nearing the block on which I lived I started becoming really uneasy he was following me and I obviously wanted him to leave me alone he gave off a weird vibe because adults didn't usually speak to me that way the only way I could get rid of him would be to give him my cell phone number and agree to answer when he calls because the situation made me uncomfortable I gave him a fake number and I hightailed it out of there A few months pass without me running into that man again so I

completely put this out of my mind he's probably just some weirdo however as you can guess from here things did not stay that way one day approximately four months later I found myself walking home after school again I will admit that I wasn't paying much attention to my surroundings that was until I heard what sounded like Footsteps running up behind me my reflexes quickly made me turn around to look and it was that same creepy man that I had encountered before he slowed his Pace as he reached me but he was yelling at me the

entire time I figured out that I had given him the wrong number and he was Furious he kept yelling and yelling and saying that I think I am better than him and that was why I gave him a fake number I was terrified at that moment as he was Really angry I was afraid that he was going to hurt me but I couldn't grab the attention of any motorists speed walk to the closest petrol station which was luckily not too far with him following behind me still yelling the entire time when I got to the

station I immediately got the attention of two Burly men standing next to their pickup truck they must have seen the terrified look On my face plus the man following me as they immediately ran over to ask if I was all right I was too scared to speak I just shook my head frantically as I tried to get behind them they immediately demanded to know why the man was following me he fed them some BS and the man tried to lie and say he was my brother I just silently kept shaking my head I guess they

figured out what was Happening at this point as they started yelling at the man they were accusing him of being a child predator I didn't say to find out what happened took the opportunity of him being distracted and I started to run away the man noticed that I was leaving and he tried to take off after me but the men really took offense to this as they immediately tackled him and threw him in the back of their pickup He was screaming at this point I sped off with the guide and conceivable speed right past me

and just kept going I was happy that they took him away but I didn't stop running until I reached home I had no idea what to make out of this entire exchange but it really shook me I really don't want to know where they took that creepy guy or what they did to him after And all honesty I didn't want to know I told my parents and I altered the route I walked home from school I never saw him again and I'm thankful for that even though I could not say what I needed at that

moment those two kind strangers saw that I was in distress and dealt with it for me even after all these years I still remember the sheer Terror and then relief when they took him away So I'm going to tell you the story of my brief encounter with a man called Happy I'm sure it wasn't his real birth name but it adds to the creepy Ambience of the story even though it happened around nine years ago sometimes he still crosses my mind especially on gloomy overcast days in La just like the day I met happy it

was 2013. I'm working at a cannabis dispensary in Venice Beach A block from the boardwalk a good 35 percent of our patrons were unhoused people occasionally someone experiencing severe psychosis would try to come in but if they were screaming or unintelligible security would not let them in if they hadn't presented the Holy Trinity of medical papers ID and cash they were good to go we had a compassion program where we'd bag up grams of shake left over from the Bottoms of jars and give them away completely free one person per day to anyone who asked

word about this quickly spread on the boardwalk generally these people would be the nicest most polite and considerate customers even if they did smell a bit stinky and their money got pulled out of a sweaty sock no one working there would ever bat an Eye if someone came in smelling like they just slept on the beach for a week next to a bottle of vodka as long as they just call me buy their weed and be on their way like any other customer it was a foggy and chilly day around the holidays sometime between Thanksgiving

and Christmas someone called out of work so I was the only person in the back bud tending there was another employee at the Reception in the security guard at the front door but I was alone in the back room there are cameras but no one is actively watching them the skywalked in after being checked in at the front he was the only customer at the moment and I swear the whole room gets a little colder as he walked in he's wearing a very worn in deeply faded wrinkled floor-length leather duster Jackie like a cowboy it

looked like he lived and slept in these same clothes for years we didn't really allow hats hoods or sunglasses in the store so I'm surprised that the security didn't make him take his hat off this man was like six foot five and built like a boulder not really obese but just large pick you up and toss you like a ragdoll type large The stench that comes with him is unlike anything I've ever smelled before though it was beyond Bo Beyond piss or smelled like actual death as if he had raw rotting carcasses tucked under his

thick long leather coat I thought I had been hardened by the plenty of nasty body stink before but this was absolutely revolting and far beyond anyone who hadn't showered lately or pissed their pants I'm trying not to inhale very deeply and I say hi sir excuse me I'm sorry would you mind taking off your hat just store policy with a big customer service smile what are you looking for today he grown steeply and is walking very slow shuffling and dragging his feet his voice sounds like he gargles with gravel rough and wet raw and angry

I don't take off my hat he said at this point I'm not trying to argue with this man about his hat either let's Just get him in and out I glance down and see that he's not wearing shoes the bit I can see from under his coat one of his ankles is massively purple or blackish colored and swollen like the size of a melon the bottoms of both of his feet are bloody and torn up and I realize he is leaving a slight trail of blood as he dragged his ragged feet across the concrete floor

of the shop My first thought is why and how the did security let this guy come in second is this guy is obviously injured and that was concerning as a human being making sure to keep the display shelf between me and the sky but that's only about a foot of space kind of like a bar it gets closer to me and the stench gets stronger I'm meekly but sincerely ask are you all right sir his eyes then flared at me What do you care he said and then in my head I'm kind of like well

I tried you know not my life not my problem not my monkeys not my circus great so what can I get for you I asked he then pulls up one of his sleeves to expose his forearm and it was covered in a large amount of burns like from a cigar somewhere old some were healed and some are fresh and infected It wasn't track marks it was clearly third degree burns he also had a jagged homemade looking stick and poke tattoo of a smiley face the Crooked Circle two lines for the eyes and an early looking

smile pointed at this tattoo happy my name is happy he said the rotting stink was so strong and I needed to breathe so I took little gasps the least amount possible I walked here I walked all the way from Pasadena wow sir that's a very long walk anyway what are you looking for today just for you he said his eyes are dark and menacing he's smeared with a layer of grime like he lives in the woods he doesn't look like the average crushed Punk or disabled veteran that you would generally see living on the beach

it was hard to guess his age but he wasn't that old or young somewhere Between 30 and 50. he looked like he dragged himself from his Log Cabin like what would happen if you entangled some quantum mechanics poorly and mixed Ed Gein with an 1800s Homesteader then transported him to 2013 defender's speech I of course have never seen this man before but once was more than enough to make him Unforgettable kept staring at me and I moved as far Back as I can to the wall hopefully out of his grasp if he lunged I would

need to walk out from behind the register and around to him to get to the security guard I was weighing my options I decided to grab a bunch of compassion grams and then I weighed out an eighth and I marked it down that I'd pay for it later he's still just leering at me wheezing heavy breaths we actually have a special today only For people who walked more than 10 miles to get here this is all for you on the house thank you for stopping by he accepted the bag but continues to just stand there

and stare at me thank you happy I said it actually worked he grunted a guttural noise that was not a word and slowly turns the shuffle back towards the door at the door he turns back towards me and says I'll see you later He finally walked out after leaving plenty of his residual stench of death behind thank any and all the gods I did not see happy later or ever again when I asked security why the F they let him in he said that he had noticed his bloody feet and said hey bro are you

all good it looks like it hurts apparently happy stepped up in his face and threatened to choke him out and called him a stupid n-word And since it was just him and two 222 year old 130 pound girls he wasn't trying to die and hoped that happy would just get his stuff and leave he was watching the cameras in the back ready to call the police and owners if anything got you weird apparently we had different definitions of weird but I understood his reaction and ultimately we were all fine just spooked and creeped out but

now we were left with needing to Clean blood off the floor with bleaching gloves and texting her a boss that he owed us free weed he actually agreed and we all lived happily ever after about 10 years ago a few of my buddies and I went on a short-lived camping and fishing trip in a pretty remote Lake a few hours from our small town we were all packed and ready to go trip there was pretty quiet until we started to get pretty close to our Destination as we got closer I think we all started to

get a little excited and some of us had that excitement adrenaline rolling through us when we got there we set up camp nothing too crazy we only had two tents between the four of us in our own backpacks with what we needed for the weekend after getting settled in we grabbed all of our fishing gear a ton of beer And headed off to the lake to try our luck with fishing it was probably around 3 P.M we were all having a blast some of us may have been a little bit more drunk than we should

have been but that was all part of the fun just men being men after a number of hours rolled by we were all ready to call fishing a day it was around eight o'clock and dusk was approaching so we started heading back To camp we were quite away from Camp still and we didn't realize how far we went we knew we were a ways out but I think we all sort of lost track of how far we really went it was no big deal though the sunset was beautiful and we were approaching Camp just in

time for Nightfall when Jimmy and Tom were getting out of their boat we noticed some flashing lights up ahead Through the Woods past camp when they disappeared after a few seconds we figured they were just passerby so it only shortly lived in our minds holy crap guys look Tom said we all looked in the direction he was pointing in and there was a freaking bear no more than 50 feet away from where John and Timmy were standing yo just stay calm dude and he will leave Us alone we all quietly walked back to Camp relatively

slowly because we didn't want to set off the bear into thinking we would prey luckily we all made it safely to camp just as soon as we thought all of our problems were gone we heard a car in the distance it was rolling in closer now and we started to see the headlights then a few moments after that the car Rolled up on us at camp we've seen all blacked out SUV my Gulpin fear is I've heard horror stories of people being attacked in the woods just out of the blue and unfortunately that's what my

mind went to fight or flight I felt a slight Panic inside as the two men stepped out of the vehicle they both had to be over six foot one or six foot two and they were both tracked as hell They introduced themselves to sheriffs and they asked us what we were doing out here Tom said we were camping and that's when I blurted out to leave us alone I had a fishy feeling about what was going on we could barely see them in the darkness as they were shining their dumb flashlights at us they said

they saw us fishing and demanded to see our fishing licenses Which we all had so it wasn't really a problem I didn't want to give mine up though because I started to wonder if they were even real cops plus we didn't do anything for them to suspect that either of us committed a crime and I verbally let them know that I knew my rights as a U.S citizen one of them demanded I give them my ID and they threatened to arrest me if I didn't give it up I wasn't letting him scare me though my

dad is a cop and I know it's not normal for them to abuse their power like this my father always told me what to do in a situation like this I told them my father was the chief of police for the county and I asked them what county they worked for but they didn't answer my question of course and yeah I did lie a little but I was hoping to build some street cred for our group My dad wasn't the chief of this County specifically but the next County over after I told them that though

we could all tell that they were starting to get choked up and they started pretending like there wasn't an issue any longer sorry for bothering you guys one of them said then they walked away and got back in their car as they were walking back to the SUV we noticed they weren't wearing a Traditional police uniform they were just wearing normal flannels and sweatpants maybe we should have chased them down or called the police but we never did we were all sure that they were fake police when I got home I told my dad about

it and he never alerted the station because none of us could give enough detail about the men can't help but wonder what their plans Were whether or not they were real cops or not if they weren't were they going to try and search us and disarm us of all of our weapons then attack us and Rob us if they were real cops or they just on a power trip who knows but I'm glad nothing worse came with this situation I've hesitated to share this story for a long time because I know how important the mutual

trust between a resident and their landlord or maintenance staff is And I don't want to instill any unnecessary distrust in anyone's landlord I've shared stories before about dangerous and scary residents that I've encountered while working at apartment complexes but this is a story about my time on the other side of things as a renter before I had even graduated from high school I knew I wanted to live at Paradise Apartments I was a bit naive at the time drawn in by the many amenities that I would never use but I primarily wanted to live there

because the complex was pet friendly and within my small budget when the time eventually came for me to get my own place I got the only apartment they had available and I moved in unfortunately I came to realize the apartment wasn't as nice as I originally thought The building was old but remodeled so it had all the typical Plumbing issues and thin walls I also learned it was not the safest part of town I was primarily an online student but I had one class that met in person twice a week around 8 am a bit

of a homebody so I really left during the day except for that class occasional shopping trip or to spend time with my boyfriend the evening after He got off work my apartment was a bit of a Bermuda Triangle even though it was only 600 square feet and I lived alone things had a way of growing legs and walking away I had two kittens at the time and I blamed them often for things disappearing something odd that kept recurring however was that I'd find my underwear box out and sitting in the center of my Bedroom floor

on days when I had class I didn't have a proper dresser instead I was using an Ikea Shelf with some Ikea boxes for designated clothes like socks underwear pants and pajamas I always could have sworn I'd put the underwear box right away after getting ready for class but I chalk it up to me forgetting as a result of having to get up early and being focused on getting to class on time arguably paranoid I started to think That some of my laundry was disappearing as well his favorite articles of clothing would go into the laundry

hamper and seemingly never come back with the clean clothes towards the end of that semester I was working one evening on a homework assignment my boyfriend called to let me know his roommate had accidentally locked him out of their apartment I had a key to their place so yes if I could run over real quick to let him in Before I left I made a mental note that I had literally left every single light in my apartment on because I was living on a pretty tight budget I normally made a point of turning off all

the lights when I left but my boyfriend only lived about five minutes away so I knew I'd be there and back very quickly sure enough I got back less than 15 minutes later I immediately sensed something was off As I could see the lights were all fall through the blinds I called my boyfriend and drove over to meet me we unlocked the door and went in all the lights were off in my apartment thinking maybe I had a power outage I flipped on the main light and it came on my boyfriend checked the entire apartment

but no one was inside but someone had gone through and systematically turned off every light of Their switch including my lizard's basking light the only light that I always left on because it was on a timer and my laptop which I left open on my assignment but now the computer had been powered down and closed call the emergency maintenance number and I explained that someone had been inside my apartment and that they had to have used the key because there was no Sign of forced entry the manager called me back and told me I had

to be imagining things maybe I had forgotten that I turned off the lights before I left I assured him that I wouldn't have turned off the computer or the lizard light someone had been in my apartment I told him I was really worried because obviously this person had a key to get in either they worked for the complex or Maybe it was a previous tenant I asked if they had changed the locks after the previous tenant moved out and they assured me that they changed the locks after every move out the manager suggested that maybe

he was a friend pranking me or someone else had given a key to the only other people I'd given keys to were my boyfriend and my mom but she lived three hours away in any case neither of them would have Pranked me in this way the manager finally agreed to send someone out immediately to change the lock for my peace of mind I brought up my concern that it was someone on the staff since they would be the only other people with keys manager claimed the keys were locked into special safe that required a personalized

code to track who took what keys when and where and that they had him in an office with a security camera They changed my locks but I had my doubts that it would do much good as far as I was aware there were only two maintenance men that worked at the complex one nice older man that didn't seem all that skilled and a younger guy with a scruffy beard that gave me a bad feeling expected that he had to be the one that had been breaking in when I had first moved in the manager had

told me I'd be getting a new kitchen Counter within the first three days I waited to move my kitchen stuff but after a week they hadn't come and then after a few months I'd completely forgotten about it one day I was sitting in my living room in this scruffy maintenance guy walked in without knocking or announcing himself and I hadn't received a notice to expect him he said he was there to replace my Countertop but it took him two days to install one small piece of counter a few weeks later I was getting out of

the shower and I heard a single knock at the door I called out just one minute and I heard to get some clothes not even two seconds later the door started to open I had to slam it shut because I was still wrapped in a towel to stop him from coming in Claimed he hadn't heard me call out but I had my doubts I don't remember what excuse he had for coming in another time I found a note from him that he had come in again and it didn't give me a reason as to why

but that he made sure not to let my cats out he also made a note about my third cat being cute except I didn't have a third cat I did however have a picture of my childhood cat in my bedroom on the Ikea shelf where I cast my clothes at that point I went to the office to ask him to make a note of my file that I a wanted at least 24 hours notice before entry and B wanted to always be present for future entry now that I knew without a shadow of a doubt

that someone was coming in secretly it all made sense It hadn't been long after the surprise maintenance visit stopped things had started moving around in my apartment he was also on site all the time everyone on staff also lived at Paradise so he knew when I came and went we knew how many times he had snuck in how many small souvenirs he had stolen could have been coming in while I was asleep even after the night with the lights I put my own lock on the door but I still didn't Totally trust the apartment I

ended up buying a condo shortly after with help from my parents I subleased the apartment and moved right around that time I also got my first job working in a different apartment complex in the final days before I left my mom came into town to help me move my stuff while she was home alone I was at a class she caught the scruffy maintenance man trying to get his key to work in my Lock she demanded to know what he was doing and he said he was there to paint the front door I hadn't received

a notice though and he didn't have any paint or supplies she told him he could wait until after I moved out a few years later I would stop by the owner of Paradise Apartments while working at another complex in town called OK Apartments So basically shopping is when an employee from another apartment complex takes a tour at another apartment complex under the guise of wanting an apartment for the purpose of gaining information that they might not otherwise easily give up can also be performed by your own management company to make sure that you're doing a

good job there were certain tells a shopper always gave like asking specifically Worded questions is it safe here I'm a felon can I live here you know ones that required specifically worded answers and were easy to trip up on being too wealthy for the complex Rolex watch sports car nice suit Etc and being too flexible on what they were interested in they were interested in all the layouts and they were open to move in whenever this guy seemed too old and too well off To be randomly considering an apartment at okay so we were geared

towards lower income folks while I was giving the tour he asked if I had any opinions on other apartment complexes in town and mentioned Paradise specifically normally I wouldn't bad mouth any other complexes I prefer to win them over by showing them the positives of our community But I told him that I probably wasn't the best person to answer that question because I was probably the only person to give Paradise a bad review in the last five years you asked me to elaborate and I told him my apartment had been broken into I suspected it

was someone on their maintenance staff at that point he revealed that he was the owner of paradise and he was very disturbed to hear I had this experience You asked me to describe the maintenance man in detail assured him it was in the past and that I was over it but he insisted on calling the manager over at Paradise which was still the same guy to ask him over speaker phone if they had any issues with the maintenance staff back in the year I lived there he answered yes that there had been a scruffy young

maintenance man he had to fire because he had been caught multiple Times breaking into the apartments of single women satisfied now the owner probably told me that the issue had been resolved and asked if I would be willing to change my review I told him no that none of this had changed the fact that I experienced this but I was happy he was actually able to validate what I had suspected in the years I worked as a leasing agent I learned a lot about where complexes Will cut Corners to save time and money from my

experience a lot of complexes did not switch out the locks if the tenant was good a lot did not require background checks for employees even though they did require them from tenants Keys also got passed out willy-nilly to vendors and maintenance during turns and employees frequently got master keys that would open all the doors I won't go so as far to say every Complex operates this way but every complex I worked at was doing this when I started there because of my own experiences once I began managing a complex I enforce strict rules about changing

locks tracking Keys posting proper notices and requiring background checks for all employees and tenants at least here in Florida with Mia's law going into effect this year background checks for employees and security Measures for keys are required for all complexes even still if you're renting an apartment stay diligent if you have a reason to believe someone is coming into your home you should document it and let the staff or police or your friends and family know you never know who might have a key to your apartment in 2008 I was in the market for buying

a new truck I went to a few dealerships but only found a few that merely caught my eye I was in no rush to get a new one I just wanted to make sure I was going to be happy with the one that I was getting that was what was most important to me I found a 2005 F-150 on Craigslist for a decent price it had low miles on it as well the only thing that needed to be replaced were some tires which was kind of a hassle but I was still interested I figured I

could talk him down on the price for the inconvenience of it gave me the supposed address of where he and the truck was located and when I showed up I was met with a nice older gentleman probably late 50s early 60s he seemed like an all right man or a normal guy he's very straight to the point and he didn't have much to say I asked him for a slight discount on the truck considering the tires and he Seemed reluctant at first but we came to an agreement my fiance rode with me to look at

the truck in case I were to end up buying it that way she could drive the other vehicle home and I would drive for the new truck that's what ended up happening after a quick test drive I decided I wanted it so I gave him the cash and we were on our merry way I was excited about it and then I got a New truck for such a killer deal we went home and we went on our butter day it wasn't until later that night when I stepped outside to smoke a cigarette I saw a

shadow of what looked like to have been a man standing in my driveway now I have a long driveway and we live in the country it was really dark and all I could see was the shadow of him it was Pitch Black I guess I didn't even Know if it was a man or a woman but from the build of the person I assumed it was a man I called out to him asking who he was but he didn't answer threatened to call the police if he didn't walk away and after that he started walking

towards me I ran inside quickly and I told my wife to call the police and to let them know that there was an unknown man in our driveway I ran into our room and grabbed my rifle and walked back outside to try and scare him off but he was gone I was hoping he got the memo right then I chuckled to myself as I thought I scared him off but I was completely wrong because in an instant I heard my wife screaming for my help inside I ran as fast as I could to her and

I saw that the manager pinned to the ground I ran over to them and I hit him with the butt of my rifle and I knocked him out cold apparently we left the garage door unlocked and that's how he let himself into our house put a zip tie around his wrists and I put them behind his back in case he were to wake up and try to run off we waited for the police to show up and I wasn't sure if he was even alive at one point so I checked his pulse His heart was

still beating so I was kind of glad I didn't murder him the cop showed up and arrested the man but not before taking him to the hospital my wife and I were taken in for questioning but ever since then I've been in over the top on edge paranoid kind of person I genuinely think I developed some sort of PTSD from this I learned that he plays some GPS tracker Under our truck before selling it to us and that's how he found us why I'm not sure the whole thing is extremely strange my wife and I

still think about it from time to time we don't have a clue what he had against us or why he would want to do such a thing to us at all and the police never got a good answer from the man and why he did it it's clear there was something mentally wrong with him but still what compels a Man to be violent like that for no reason he's honestly lucky he walked out of my house alive after grabbing my wife like that just saying [Music] so for a quick backstory I found a stalker for

about four years who's never aggressive or sent me proper threats so stubborn as I am I did my best to ignore him and not give him the satisfaction of showing him any fear To be honest after a while I wasn't even scared anymore since he almost never came close to me and I know being stealth can affect people severely even in a case like mine and that's totally valid but I guess I got lucky and I was never really psychologically affected by it his stalking behavior mostly just consisted of sending me letters and Gifts such

as photos of my own apartment building from the outside things he dug Out of my trash can and so on I called the police many times but they weren't able to catch or identify him since I barely use any social media aside from Reddit and have no personally identifying information here I didn't think he'd ever see it one person even asked does he know you're putting him on blast on Reddit and I answered maybe maybe it would make him angry or maybe he'd be turned on don't know don't care Well I know the real answer

now he did see it and he definitely didn't like it like I said he was never usually aggressive and he never came close to me [Music] the closest I know of was when he sent me a picture of me by myself unlocking my apartment door I consider myself a pretty Vigilant person and I'm thinking that he might have hit a camera there instead of being there to take the photo himself Think I would have noticed him if he was physically there but I don't know for sure I don't know how he got wind of the

AMA but he did the next week was quiet no letters and I didn't see him anywhere then he left me letters with printed out questions and my answers from the post he also left me a long hateful letter towards my boyfriend about an issue that I had posted on the German version of r Slash am I the his letters were never hateful like that before though he never seemed happy with my boyfriend he wrote about how I should share the spotlight with him since I got so much attention thanks to him a few days later

I got a gift but this time he didn't leave it in my mailbox or at my car like he usually did no this time he left it inside the apartment building right in front of my Door I didn't take it inside my apartment but I opened it outside it was a pretty big box which was also unusual and it was also taped shot as I'm typing this out I realized that it wasn't a good idea at all to open it and it could have ended badly for me but luckily he didn't send me a bomb

or anything he did however send me several zip ties a roll of tape Kanye used to tape off Walls When painting nothing you could use to restrain someone a TV remote with most buttons picked off pack of Band-Aids with a few used ones not actually used just made it look like that according to police and a framed picture of me could tell the picture was taken a few days ago and my boyfriend was next to me but caught out of the photo frame was shattered and the package was full of glass shards clearly more than

Just what could have fallen out of the frame they were also intentionally put inside the crumpled newspaper that was stuffed in there to keep it all in place I called the police right away and I gave it to them they were more concerned this time finally told me they'd send patrol cars more frequently he didn't show up or leave me any letters or gifts for about another week And a half but eight days ago it started again found letters in my mailbox where he wrote about how he wasted his time on me how I haven't

been appreciating his effort and how he was wrong about me being special five days ago I left my apartment in the morning and I heard a crunch sound as I stepped on my doormat put broken glass under it at night I went off to work in a hurry because I Was in a hurry and I was just going to make my boyfriend call the police but then I found my car had also been vandalized the signs were scratched light smashed and the windshield had a phrase painted on it the phrase read it's time soon miss

with my first and last name I went back inside and I called the cops myself they found the same phrase on a note Under the doormat this time they really really really took me seriously which might have been because I was just pissed at this point which I made very clear if for some reason you're like me and just too stubborn to be afraid of a stalker like mine in all of this the letters gifts photos even the damn glass under my doormat are just really annoying and inconvenient but my car was useless to me

now and That threat scared me I did however have a dash cam in my car and it caught everything police took the footage as evidence even though the dash cam footage wasn't high of quality and I had given them photos of him that were just as good before but they said it wasn't enough they told me they'll look into it further and promise to send more patrol cars again then it was quiet for two more days Until two days ago someone rang the doorbell just after 4am my boyfriend and I got up but we were

both hesitant I saw blue lights outside and just as I got up I heard them shouting this is the police open the door told us they were called by one of our downstairs neighbors who came home from his nice shift about an hour earlier and heard someone else enter the building after them before their door was fully Shut my neighbors know of my situation and I've asked them to make sure they don't let strangers into the building before this neighbor then went into his apartment and looked through the peephole we have motion activated lights in

the stairway so he waited to see if they turned back on and they did then he saw a middle-aged man walk upstairs Above This neighbor only me and my boyfriend and a single mom with three kids who probably won't be getting any visitors at 3am they came and found my stalker one half floor above me on the stairs should have been able to see the cop car since there's a little window up there they had their lights on but he either missed them or he wanted to get caught they found a pocket knife on him

and he confessed to being my stalker right away Is finally caught they got him it took four years a provocative Reddit post and one very Vigilant and caring neighbor but he's finally done for now at least he's facing several charges and I've collected every single piece of evidence over the past four years I don't know what kind of outcome I can expect but for now I finally got some peace for some context I'm a 32 year old Female this happened to me when I was about 25 or 26. or full-time as a researcher at a

university which is where these encounters took place I'm not a professor or anything and because of my age at the time I could have easily been mistaken for just another student wandering around campus on some days when the weather was nice I would prefer to spend my lunch hour Strolling around the university grounds outside or sitting underneath a Shady Tree on a bench during the time I was not sitting in a cramped corner of a Lab on one of these days I was sitting on a bench enjoying the fresh air in a male student walking

by asked if he could sit next to me I'm a pretty shy and awkward kind of person so even though I would really have preferred sitting alone I said sure he initiated simple conversation to Which I obliged but being careful not to be too forthcoming he mentioned he had seen which department building I came and went from which slightly alarmed me given I had never seen this person before in my life but I pushed the thought from my mind after all the weather had been decent lately and I had spent nearly all my lunch hours

for the past week outside yes if I was studying within the mentioned Department to which I told him That I was not a student but rather I worked here he told me he was an engineering student and then he followed up with asking me out to coffee sometime I apologize and I told him that I had a boyfriend and that I would have to decline he parted ways after that and I assumed I probably wouldn't see him around again about a week or two went by and I was spending another lunch hour outside on Campus

sitting on a different bench somewhere seemingly out of nowhere the same man from before asked if he could sit next to me again I don't remember why he started talking to me about it first my mind was reeling and I was rather uncomfortable having to potentially turn this guy down a second time sure enough he asked me again if we could go out for coffee sometime I apologize and reminded him that I had a boyfriend and that I would not be meeting him for coffee and again he left after that [Music] I was feeling rather

anxious now but it still hadn't reached a level where I felt like I had to be too concerned a few days later I had finished work and I was leaving the building to walk to where I had parked my car the university charges a fortune for Parking passes even if you're employed by them so I had always opted for free street parking about a 10 minute walk away from campus my walking route would take me down several quiet residential streets with minimal car traffic even pedestrian traffic was pretty sparse on the busiest of days it

wasn't until I was about halfway to my car down one of these quiet back streets that I noticed someone walking Directly across the street from me but keeping a few Paces behind I noticed him for my peripheral vision and I didn't want to flat out turn around to stare at him I mean it wasn't uncommon to see someone else by any means I was just always trying to be aware of my surroundings when walking the streets alone I had to make a few turns coming up anyways and the chance that they would be going the

same way as me was Slim But he did he made all the turns that I did still walking on the sidewalk across from me a few steps behind so did not want to look at whoever it was I didn't want him to know that I was aware of what I thought he was doing I quickened my Pace to a speedy walk I was approaching the first of the two busier streets before I would reach my car his Pace quickened to keep up with me That was the moment I panicked the moment I was sure that

he was indeed following me after that I started a full out jog to cross the First Street of the busier streets he ran to keep up behind me and was now on the same side of the street that I was I was now nearly at my car I had to cross the last busy street and get about 100 meters and then I would be There but it was crossing the street that worried me I often had to stop and wait a good minute or so before it was clear enough to do so that's really the

case he would catch up with me as if the stars aligned as soon as I made it running to the busy street I had a gap to cross I booked it as fast as I could finally Turning around once I'd made it so look and yell at the man who had been pursuing me it was him I could have suspected but now was confirmed it's an engineering student from who I had turned down for coffee stop following me I yelled at him across from the busy Street can I just talk to you he yelled back

I didn't even answer him The answer should have been obvious from a star and I was certainly never going to give my time to anyone who had just followed me and then chase me for about a kilometer kept moving quickly to my car so determined to get the hell out of there that I didn't even care if he saw which car was mine he had given up following me and never tried to cross the road too to my relief I got home and I broke down I mean worse things had happened to other people no

doubt and I was not harmed fortunately but I was shook had some anxieties walking to and from work after that wasn't long before a co-worker and I would walk most of the distance back to our cars together after work I even changed where I started parking for a Time a few weeks had passed since the incident and I had not seen him around Campus at all at starting spending my launches in the lab instead of outside but occasionally I would go to the Student Center to buy lunch instead this one particular day the food court

in the student center was packed almost shoulder to shoulder I was standing in line at a burger stall and I heard a guy trying to get someone's attention to the crowd I look up and it's him again Waving to me and trying to make his way through the people I panicked and even though I'm terribly shy I started a scene and I yelled to him to leave me the alone his face dropped instantly as people stared at us and he slinked back into the sea of students my heart was pounding and I was shaking don't

even remember if I ended up getting food after that went back to work and from then on I was Even more focused on my surroundings than I ever was before it's been five or six years since then and I still work at the University I'm so relieved to say I never saw him again after the food court and I haven't had any other harrowing accounts on campus I'm so diligent about being aware of my surroundings especially when I have to walk to and from campus alone I never asked this guy's name so I Couldn't even

report an incident to the campus police or anything all in all I'm just glad I never saw him again and I can only hope he never did this to any other girl before or after me