[Laughter] [Music] Okay, so I used to work night shift at a small hotel and this happened about a year ago. But I still think about it all the time because it genuinely freaked me out so bad. And I don't know what the guy's plan was or what he was trying to do.
And it honestly makes me feel sick when I remember just how long he was there and that I didn't even realize he wasn't supposed to be there. The hotel was small, only three floors and maybe 40 rooms total. It wasn't a busy place.
Usually, we only had about 10 or 15 rooms filled on week nights. I worked from 10:00 p. m.
to 6:00 a. m. It was usually really boring and quiet, which was fine with me.
I would just sit behind the desk, do some paperwork, sometimes check the cameras, sometimes watch YouTube on my phone if it was really dead. The lobby wasn't big, just the desk and some couches off to the side with a TV and then some vending machines in the corner. Behind the desk was a little office where I had a computer and a chair and a glass window so I could see the lobby while I sat in there.
At night, the front doors locked automatically, so guests had to buzz in, and I would press a button to let them through. Usually, nothing happened after midnight except the occasional guest coming in late. But one night, this man came in around 11:00 and everything about it still makes my stomach drop when I think about it.
He buzzed the door and I let him in. He looked mid-40s, tall, kind of skinny, but not too skinny, and he was wearing jeans and a baseball cap, carrying a backpack. He walked up to the desk and asked if we had a room for the night.
I told him yes and gave him the price, and he nodded and pulled out a card. I swiped it, it went through, and I gave him a key card for room 214 on the second floor. I remember he looked at me for a second too long before he left.
He had this kind of blank expression, and his eyes stayed on me for maybe 3 or 4 seconds after I handed him the key. Then he turned and walked off toward the elevator. Nothing about it screamed dangerous right away, but it was enough to make me notice him.
After that, I sat back in the chair and played on my phone for a while. Around midnight, I looked up and he was back in the lobby. He didn't come to the desk.
He just walked past me and sat down in the lounge area with the couches. The TV wasn't on, but he just sat down facing it. I figured maybe he couldn't sleep or something.
Some guests hang out in the lobby sometimes, so I didn't think too much of it. But then after half an hour, I realized he was literally just sitting there doing nothing. He wasn't on his phone or reading.
He wasn't even dozing off. He was just staring straight ahead at the blank screen. I got up at one point to grab water from the vending machine.
And when I walked across the lobby, I felt him turn his head and watch me the whole way. I didn't look at him directly, but I could feel his eyes on me until I was back behind the desk. It gave me this really uneasy feeling.
Around 1:00 a. m. , I was checking the reservation system on the computer because I was bored.
And that's when I noticed something weird. I pulled up the occupied room list and saw that room 214 said vacant. I mumbled what the under my breath and double checked because I literally just checked this guy in an hour earlier.
I thought maybe I made a mistake. So, I looked at the check-in logs and there was nothing for him. No name, no charge, nothing.
Then I went into the transaction screen to make sure his card had gone through earlier and it showed no payments. I remember feeling confused as hell because I swore I swiped his card and it beeped like it worked, but there was nothing in the system at all. That's when I picked up the phone and called room 214.
It rang like 10 times, but no answer. Then I checked the key card entry log, which tells you if the door to that room was open that night, and it showed nothing. No one had entered the room.
That's when I realized he never even went to the room after I gave him the card. I looked over into the lounge and there he was still sitting there staring at the TV that wasn't even on. I started to get this awful feeling in my chest.
I sat there debating what to do. Part of me thought maybe the system just glitched, but the fact that the room had no entry log and no charge made it pretty clear he wasn't even checked in. I waited another 15 minutes just watching him.
Around 1:30, I walked over and asked if everything was okay. He turned his head and looked at me with no expression and he told me he just couldn't sleep. Then he turned back toward the TV.
I nodded and went back behind my desk, but my hands were shaking. Around 2, I noticed he wasn't sitting in the lounge anymore. My stomach dropped right away because I didn't see him in the lobby at all.
I scanned the area and then I spotted him standing at the end of the hallway by the bathrooms, half hidden in the dark. He was just standing still. I kept glancing up at him, pretending to be on the computer.
He stood there for a while and then slowly walked back and sat in the lounge again like nothing happened. I called my manager at home and explained what was going on. She sounded tired and told me to just keep an eye on him and call the police if he did anything threatening.
I remember hanging up and thinking that it already felt threatening, but I didn't know what else to do. I checked the security cameras after that. I saw him on the first floor hallway camera.
He walked all the way down the hall, stopped at the end, stood there for several minutes, then walked back. Later, he went into the stairwell, and stayed in there for about 10 minutes. I don't know what he was doing in there.
Every time I looked up from the computer, he was somewhere else, near the vending machines or by the elevators. Once just standing near the corner of the lobby where the light didn't hit well, he was always staring. By 3:30, I couldn't take it anymore, so I called the non-emergency police line and explained that there was a man in the hotel who I didn't think was a guest.
They said they'd send someone. While I was waiting, I noticed he moved again, this time closer to the desk. He was standing maybe 15 ft away, just watching me.
He didn't blink much, and he definitely didn't speak. He just stared like he had a staring problem. I pretended to type something on the computer, but I was so scared I could hardly breathe.
At around 3:50, the buzzer went off and I thought maybe it was the cops already, but it was just another guest coming back late. I let him in quickly and the man turned his head and watched the guest walk past. I noticed his eyes follow him the whole way across the lobby.
That scared me even more because it was like he was studying him. A few minutes later, the man disappeared again. I checked the cameras and saw him standing outside one of the guest room doors on the first floor.
Like he was literally just standing there. So that's when I called actual 911. I told them he was outside a guest's room and I didn't know what he was trying to do.
They said officers were on the way. I kept my eyes glued on the camera feed and he just stood at the door for about 3 minutes, then slowly walked back to the lobby. When he came back, he walked right up to the desk this time and leaned over the counter.
He looked at me and asked if there was any food. His voice was so low it was disturbing. I told him there were vending machines on the corner.
He gave a small smile, then walked away. I just sat there staring at the clock, begging the cops to get there. Finally, around 4:10, two officers showed up.
I let them in and pointed right at him. He was back in the lounge sitting down. They walked over and talked to him for a few minutes.
They asked for his ID and asked him questions I couldn't hear. Then they walked him out. One of the officers came back and explained that the guy wasn't a guest at all.
The credit card he gave me was stolen and he had no bags or reservation. He had just been pretending so we could get access to the building. They charged him with trespassing and the stolen card.
After they left, I sat there shaking until my shift was over. Every time I looked at the cameras, I expected to see him again. The part that messed me up the most was realizing he had been inside the hotel for hours wandering around and standing outside guest rooms watching me from different spots.
And he was never even supposed to be there. I have no idea what his plan was, but I know it wasn't good. That was the scariest night of my life.
[Music] My name is Meredith. I'm 24 and I work the night shift at a tiny gas station off County Road 11. It's the kind of place most people don't even notice unless they're out of gas or completely lost.
I took the job because it was quiet and predictable. I liked that, or at least I used to. It started on a Thursday night around 1:00 a.
m. The air outside was wet and still, and the hum of the overhead lights had been getting under my skin all shift. I was just about to microwave a cinnamon roll I didn't even really want when the door chimed.
A man walked in, mid-40s, maybe older. He had a green coat, messy hair, and dry lips like he hadn't smiled in years. He didn't head for the coffee or chips like most people.
He just stood near the counter staring at me with a strange kind of familiarity. "Hi," I said, forcing a polite smile. Then the man said, "You always work this late.
" I blinked and said, "Um, yeah, mostly. " He smiled. Then he said, "I figured.
I've passed through a few times. Noticed it's always you. That unsettled me more than I let show.
" "Oh, yeah, right. Small town," I said. He didn't leave.
Meredith, right? I froze. I wasn't wearing a name tag.
I was about to ask him how he knew, but he followed it with saying that I have nice handwriting, and he motioned to the whiteboard where I had written cinnamon coffee is back. Most people dot their eyes like circles. You use little slashes.
It's very specific, thoughtful. I didn't respond. He didn't buy anything.
just stood there for another minute watching me like he was studying my reactions. Then he finally nodded. "I'm Paul," he said.
"Just curious, that's all. " And then he walked out into the fog. After that, he started showing up randomly.
Not every night. Not enough to scream stalker out loud, but often enough that I stopped assuming it was a coincidence. Sometimes he'd come inside.
Sometimes he'd just sit in his car near the edge of the lot with his headlights off. One night, I tried to ignore him. He came in, bought a bottle of water, and lingered like always.
"You're quieter tonight," he said. "Long shift," I muttered. He slowly looked around the store like he was taking inventory of everything.
"It must get lonely. Just you out here in the dark, no one else for miles," he said. "I'm fine," I replied.
He leaned on the counter. You ever get scared being a woman alone at night? His voice wasn't threatening.
That's what made it worse. It was curious, like neutral, like he was asking about the weather. I stepped back and I asked, "Do you need anything else?
" He tilted his head. "You always keep the door to the back room locked. Smart.
I noticed you check it around 2:00 a. m. almost every night.
" My stomach turned. I didn't answer. I'll let you get back to it," he said with a soft, almost apologetic smile.
"Didn't mean to make you uncomfortable. " Then he walked out again. After that night, I started walking to my car with my keys between my fingers.
I kept a tire iron under the counter. I changed the curtains in my apartment, started showering with the bathroom door locked, even when no one else was home. There were nights he didn't come.
Sometimes I'd go a whole week without seeing him, but it didn't help. It actually made it worse because I never knew when he'd reappear. Like the time I came back from my 10-minute break to find a Polaroid on the counter.
It was me refilling the windshield washer bin behind the station. It was taken from that night close up. Way too close.
There was no note along with it, but the slash dot on the word I and the word windshield on the bin label had been circled in red ink. The next time he came in, I told him to leave. I told him if he stayed I'd call the police.
Paul just nodded. I get it. I've been too forward.
You've been following me, I said with my voice cracking, and I hated that it did. I just think you're the kind of person who's used to being misunderstood. I thought maybe you'd appreciate someone who pays attention, he said.
That's not paying attention. That's obsession, I replied. He didn't flinch.
Would it be easier if I wore a smile and brought a soda every night? Would I be more normal if I just talked about sports and pretended I didn't notice the way your shoes are always a half size too big or how your left eyelid twitches when you're tired? By this point, I was already dialing 911.
He didn't stop me. The police came quickly and he didn't resist. He just stood there, arms at his sides, waiting.
They searched his car and found a notepad filled with dates and times. It was my schedule, notes about my walk, my clothes, my groceries. One page just had my name written over and over again in tighter and tighter loops until it turned into scribbles.
He kept telling the cops the same thing. I just noticed things. I'm just a curious guy.
The restraining order went through that week. Now I don't work nights anymore. I don't even live in the same town.
The company transferred me to another station 2 hours away. But even now, when I drive home and see headlights behind me for too long, I feel the back of my neck tingle. And sometimes I still think about the way he said my name, like he already knew what it would sound like in his mouth, like he'd been practicing it.
I want to start this off by saying at the time I'm writing this, this happened to me just last night. I work the overnight shift at a 24-hour gas station. I'm a 22-year-old female and I've been working there just shy of 2 months.
I work the weekend shifts, which is Thursday through Saturday. While another coworker, who I'll call Max, for privacy reasons, works the weekdays of Sunday through Wednesday. My coworker, Max, and a friend of his, I'll call Ben, had come into the station at about 2:30 a.
m. to get some coffee and say hi. Max and his friend had taken some magic mushrooms a couple hours before they came in.
So when I saw them, they were all giggly and Honestly, it was pure entertainment for me. As we were talking about random stuff, Ben had made the comments about how there was a car parked in the parking lot with its lights off but running with someone inside that had been there before they pulled in. He said when he questioned the guy, the guy said he was waiting for a Door Dash order.
Normally, that wasn't out of the ordinary for Door Dashers to wait in their car while we packed an order up. What was odd was I hadn't received an order in almost 2 hours. I spent most of the night in the back of the store cleaning, away from the tills and the front doors, so I couldn't even see the parking lot.
We waved it off as nothing, and the two guys went outside to smoke a cigar and play with Max's dog, who they brought along. At first, I didn't think much of it, but once I was alone, I thought it was a little weird considering I didn't know how long they'd been out there before my coworker came in. Fast forward about an hour and they came back in to get more coffee.
It was at that point, Max told me more about how the car had been out there parked in a spot that even when I went to the register, I couldn't see it due to the wall. He told me that the entire hour they were out there playing with his dog and smoking in the parking lot, the man in the car had switched between watching them and looking like he was texting someone on his phone. When Ben had noticed this, in his high as hell state, he walked over to the car and asked, "What's up?
Why are you looking at us? " At that point, the man had tried to pretend he didn't speak any English. When that didn't work, he switched to English and started saying he must have had the wrong address before hightailing it out of the parking lot.
He was definitely higher than Max at that point. But what made it really creepy was Max said that the car looked brand new and had no license plate. He also noticed there was a pile of blankets in the back, enough to hide someone under.
And when the man was confronted, another car had just pulled into the lot with its lights off. A car that also looked brand new and had no license plates. And as soon as the first car had started driving away, the car that had just pulled in immediately followed them out.
Max had stayed another 15 minutes before they headed out and told me to be careful and to keep an eye out. At about 6:00 a. m.
, he came back in for more coffee, and he was definitely sober. So, we talked more about it. He said the guy was acting super suspicious the entire time they were out there, constantly checking his phone and watching them along with the entrance to the parking lot and the doors to the store.
Even he admitted that he was freaked out. And once he came down from his high, he wanted to check on me to make sure I was all right. We both decided that had they not been there, this whole scenario could have gone one of several ways.
I don't know if it was a pure coincidence or if those two cars were planning on doing something to me as soon as Max and Ben had left and I was alone. I may carry a knife on my person for protection, but my gut tells me that from what they described that if there were multiple people, it might not have been any good. And if they hadn't been there just playing like kids in the parking lot, something terrible just might have happened to me.
I work again tonight and I'll update if anything happens during my shift. I really wish I didn't have an update for you, but I do. The car came back again during my shift.
This is how it happened. It was about 3:00 a. m.
and I was mopping the floors when four guys came in to get coffee and some snacks. I was ringing them up when one of them asked if I knew anything about the car that was at the far end of the parking lot running with its lights off. I looked at the man and asked what car.
He then went on to tell me there was what looked like a brand new Subaru with no license plates running with what looked like two guys arguing in the front seats. I could feel my heart drop into my stomach when he said this. I told the group that a car with that same description had been sitting in the parking lot the night before, but there was only one guy in it, who I assumed to be the leader of this group, told me as they were pumping gas, they noticed the car as it had been there when they pulled in and how it just sat there as they filled up their truck.
He told me as they were walking to the door as they passed the car since they were at the pump farthest from the doors. He said that as they passed, they could hear a guy not quite yelling, but talking pretty loud and pointing towards the doors of the store. As they passed, one of the guys started to walk towards the car to ask if everything was okay.
When the guys in the car finally noticed them, they proceeded to put the car in reverse and drive away. I told them that I believe that was the same car from the night before that had been acting suspicious when there were others in the parking lot. And when confronted, he seemed panicked before leaving with another car following him out.
They seemed alarmed and offered to stay with me for a bit to make sure they didn't come back. I asked if they were sure, and when they told me it was no problem, they hung around for about 20 minutes before we all decided I was probably in the clear. I thanked them again and let them top off their coffee for free before they headed out and I was left alone.
Nothing else happened the rest of my shift, but I sure as hell kept an eye out when I eventually had to go outside to change the trash at the gas pumps. What's scariest to me is not once did I see this car, but had multiple people warn me about it. At first, I was hoping I was just paranoid and it was really nothing.
But to have the same car come two nights in a row at almost the same time and park in a spot that couldn't be seen from the register or the front windows makes me wonder if my paranoia is justified. If it is, I'm just glad I had another group of people show up so I wasn't alone if those guys in the car had decided to come in. Thankfully, I don't work for the next few days.
And I can only hope when I work again the car doesn't show up. [Music] My name is Daniel. I'm 29 and I work the overnight shift at a small rural motel.
It's not a chain, just a family-owned place with two floors and maybe 25 rooms in total. I usually work from 10:00 p. m.
to 6:00 a. m. The motel doesn't get much traffic at night.
Maybe a couple check-ins after midnight if someone is traveling through, but most of the time it's dead quiet. That's why I took the job. I'm not really a people person, so sitting in an empty building most nights works for me.
The way it's set up is there's a main office with the front desk, some chairs, a coffee machine, and a little rack of brochures. Behind the desk is a hallway that leads to a back office. That back office is kind of like a lounge.
It has another desk, a couch, a mini fridge, and a TV mounted on the wall. The cool thing is that there's a little speaker back there that dings whenever someone rings the bell at the front desk. So, normally I just sit in the back, watch something on my laptop, maybe nap on the couch, and then when I hear the bell, I get up and walk to the front.
I've worked there long enough to know the regular rhythm of the place. The building cak sometimes, the heater makes a clicking noise, and the front door buzzes when a guest uses their key card after hours. Those are all normal sounds.
But the thing about working the night shift is even the normal stuff can get under your skin if you think too much about it. And sometimes the things that seem normal at first turn out not to be. This happened on a Tuesday night back in fall.
It was cold outside, maybe in the 40s, and the parking lot was empty except for four or five cars belonging to guests. It was about 2:00 a. m.
when I first heard the bell. I stood up from the couch in the back and went into the main office. When I got there, nobody was standing at the desk.
The lobby was empty. I looked outside through the glass doors, but the road was dark and seemingly empty as well. There were no cars pulling in or headlights or anything.
I thought maybe I had imagined it, but the bell is loud and clear, so I knew I hadn't. I stood there for a minute waiting to see if anyone came in late, but no one did. So, I went back to the lounge.
I sat on the couch, pulled out my phone, and scrolled for a while. Not even 10 minutes later, the bell rang again. I jumped up and walked quickly into the main office, but once again, it was empty.
The hair on the back of my neck stood up this time. I went to the doors and stepped outside. The parking lot looked the same as before.
The cars were all parked with their lights off, and there was no movement anywhere. The road was completely empty, too. I walked to the edge of the sidewalk and looked both ways, but there wasn't a single sign of life out there.
I went back inside and sat behind the front desk this time instead of going to the back. I figured maybe some drunk person was messing with me. A ding-dong ditch of sorts.
Maybe a guest's kid thought it was funny. But after sitting there for 15 minutes with nothing happening, I started to relax again. I leaned back in the chair, opened my laptop, and figured it was just one of those weird things I'd laugh about later.
Then the bell rang again. I snapped my head up so fast that it hurt. The lobby was still empty, nobody in sight.
My skin started to crawl. I stood up and walked around the front desk to make sure nobody was hiding, but there was no one. I checked the bathrooms of the lobby.
I even stepped outside again. Nothing. I walked the lot a little, shining my phone flashlight, but it was just dead quiet.
I went back inside and that's when I decided to try something different. Instead of going back to the lounge, I sat down in the chair right behind the front desk. If someone was sneaking around and ringing the bell just to mess with me, I wanted to be there to catch them.
I turned the lobby lights down a little so the room was dim and I just sat there listening. It was so quiet that every little sound made me twitch. The clock ticking on the wall sounded louder than usual.
The fridge in the back office clicked on and hummed. Every couple of minutes, the building creaked as it settled. I sat there with my arms crossed, staring at the bell on the counter.
15 minutes passed, then 20. My eyes started to get heavy, and I thought maybe the person had given up. I even started thinking I just imagined the whole thing.
Just as I was letting myself relax and doze off, it happened. The bell rang. Only this time, I saw what was doing it.
A pale hands came up from under the front desk, reaching over the counter and pressing the bell right in front of me. I jumped up so fast, I'm sure the chair almost fell over, and I bolted down the hall into the back office. I slammed the door and locked it.
And I stood there in the dark, my chest pounding. My mind was racing, trying to figure out how someone could even be under there. The desk doesn't have much space underneath, but it's enough for someone to crouch if they squeezed in.
That meant they'd been hiding just a few feet away from me, waiting. I forced myself to look at the security monitors. There were four cameras, one on the lobby, one on the hallway, and two on the parking lot.
On the lobby feed, I saw the chair had apparently tipped over in my rush. The counter looked empty. Then in the bottom corner of the frame, I saw movement.
A head poked out from behind the desk. I couldn't make out details, just the outline and the glint of eyes staring straight into the camera. I backed away from the monitor.
I couldn't look at it. I grabbed my phone and dialed 911 with shaking hands. I whispered to the dispatcher that someone had broken in and was hiding in the lobby.
She told me to stay where I was and that officers were on the way. While I was on the phone, I watched the monitor. The person's head disappeared.
And then I saw the person crawl out from behind the desk on hands and knees. He crawled to the door and then stood up. He was tall and wearing a hoodie with the hood pulled tight and his posture was hunched over.
Then he turned around and started walking around the lobby like he was looking for something. And then he turned and walked out of the camera frame toward the hallway that led to the back office. I pressed my back against the locked door.
A moment later, the knob rattled. Just once, a very slow rattle and then nothing. The dispatcher kept asking if I was safe, but I couldn't even answer for a few seconds because my throat felt like it was closing up.
After what felt like forever, I heard slow footsteps moving away. I rushed back to the monitor. The man was pacing around the lobby again.
At one point, he stood in front of the glass doors and just stared outside like he was waiting for someone. Then he walked over to the brochure rack and started flipping through the papers as if he were sarcastically killing time. Minutes dragged by.
Finally, I saw flashing blue and red lights through the parking lot cameras. The cops pulled up. Two cars.
The man must have seen it, too, because he suddenly bolted out of frame. A second later, I heard the front doors open. When the officers cleared the building, they found a large rock near the front door that was presumably used to prop the front door open, but they didn't find him inside.
He was gone. They searched the lot, checked the road, and the officer told me whoever it was must have slipped out as soon as they pulled up. I kept playing it in my head after the way that hand just came up from under the desk and pressed the bell.
Calm as anything. Now, every time I hear that bell at night, I think of that night and experience. I don't think I'll ever look at that desk the same way again.
