[Music] there's a nice Hidden Lake a short walk away from my house in parsonfield Maine I've been going fishing there for as long as I've lived here it's hidden away from any roads or houses it has perfect privacy and I would always be the only one out on the lake fishing in fact I would leave my kayak in the same spot by the lake whenever I wasn't used it it was easier than lugging the thing back and forth through my house to the lake anytime I wanted to use it I would leave it leaning up
against this huge tree every time the kayak is heavy enough to not fall over from a wind storm or anything I also leave it covered to prevent Critters from taking Refuge inside it was a warm Summer's evening I was out on the lake already for about an hour and I'd caught a few trout already which I'd thrown into the cooler it was dusk at this point the little bit of light left in the sky was disappearing behind the trees I was going to bring it in soon and just then I heard sounds from the edge
of the lake I turned and saw someone standing at the edge of the water tipping a barrel of some kind over pouring its contents into the lake it looked to me like they were polluting the lake with something I took it upon myself to yell out excuse me what are you doing the person looked up at me and he then ran into the woods with the contents of the barrels still pouring into the water I looked more closely at the liquid being poured out into the lake and it looked like a dark red liquid though
it was dark out so I can't say with 100% certainty if it was red but it was very dark I felt a sense of unease creep up throughout my body I decided I wanted to leave I'm a big nature guy though and seeing people littering or polluting the environment makes me sick I genuinely couldn't resist shouting something out to that person but I didn't feel comfortable here any longer I planned on reporting this to the Department of Environmental Protection I paddled the kayak back to my usual spot I took all of my gear off the
kayak before pulling it out of the water as I was putting the cover over the kayak I heard one single snap of something not far away like the crunch of something under a person's shoe I turned and was about to say who's there but I decided against it I finished covering the kayak quicker than I ever had before I didn't even bother standing it up to lean on the tree this time I left it on the ground I picked up my gear and cooler and started quickly walking out of the woods and out to the
road which led to my house it was only a couple minutes of a walk and I was back home I kept looking over my shoulder the entire time though thinking someone was behind me I put my gear in the shed real quick then went inside I never locked the door so quickly I was genuinely spooked I rinsed off the trout and put them in the fridge planning on cooking them tomorrow tonight I just heated up some leftovers as the food was in the microwave there was a knock at my front door the fear and dread
that I was feeling the entire walk back to the house returned in an instance and my suspicion that I was being followed home was basically confirmed I mean who else would be knocking on my door this late my lights were on my car was in the driveway whoever it was knew I was in here I had all the shades closed though so nobody could look inside they knocked on the door again the microwave beeped as the timer hit zero I'm sure whoever was outside heard it all the windows were cracked open and a moment later
there was a knock now on the window and a man's voice said through the window excuse me I think you saw me at the lake earlier I'd just like to explain myself there was absolutely no chance I was opening the door to this person for them to stalk me to my house told me this was a dangerous person they repeatedly knocked on the window and kept yelling hello through it I decided to acknowledge Him now that he was getting more aggressive I yelled yo leave where I'll call the police I intended to either way but
it was still a threat to get him to leave the man responded calmly now saying sir if you could just open the front door I'll explain everything to you I repeated my threat and I didn't hear his voice again at this point I shut and locked every window in the house and turned on the AC I also made a report to the non-emergency police number detailing both the barrel being dumped into the lake and the man coming to my house I also made an online Report with the Department of Environmental Protection making these two reports
Honestly made me feel a little better about going to sleep that night but thank God I'm a light sleeper in the middle of the night like 2: a.m. I heard a crash from downstairs I immediately sprang out of my bed and grabbed my glock from the closet I heard someone's attempt at quiet footsteps coming up the creaky wooden steps I had my glock loaded in hand as I stood behind my dresser right by my closet aiming at the door door I heard very slow creeping towards my door my bedroom door is closest to the stairs
so it was naturally the first door that they would approach and sure enough I heard the door knob slowly press down and then the door pushed open I saw nothing but the man's silhouette enter the room I flicked on the lamp next to me so he could see my gun and I screamed get on the ground now he raised his hands in the air and seemed for a second to be motioning for me to calm down he had a small blade in his hand I told him to drop it but then he said calmly I'm
leaving and he turned and ran for downstairs I yelled at him to stop but he clearly took the chance on me being too afraid to pull the trigger I heard him leave through the front door I ran downstairs to lock the front door right away and then call 911 my living room window was shattered glass was all over the floor I kept my sight on that broken window until the police officer showed up I had to explain that I already made a non-emergency report of what happened earlier in fear of waiting too long by morning
for the barrel to be gone in the darkness I went with two of the officers who showed up to my house to where I saw that man dumping the barrel into the lake but after 20 minutes of walking around looking for it it was gone the man must have made sure not to leave it behind I gave my best description of the man to the police for their report the man was a short bearded white man with a receding hairline and glasses wearing a black flannel shirt and black pants after the police left left I
stayed in the living room all night with my gun next to me watching TV no way in hell was I going to sleep with a broken window and some Nut Job out there at dawn my brothers came over to help me fix the window my brother Dale stayed at the house while my other brother and I went to Home Depot to get the window and parts Dale stayed at the house with me for a few nights till things cooled down my not so wild theory is that the barrel contained human remains possibly dissolved in some
kind of acid why else would that Man follow me home and then break into my house to potentially murder me trust your gut if something feels wrong I knew if I open my door to that man something terrible might have happened to me ever since I was a little kid all the older men in my family would take me fishing every opportunity they got it was like some family ritual I being the youngest meant that I was next next in line to become an expert like all of them claim to be the ones who took
it the most seriously were my dad and his brother Matthew our houses were decked out like the ones you've probably seen on fishing shows I won't go into detail but if you took a step into my house you'd instantly be able to tell my parents spend more time on the water than on the land this is actually his story not mine my dad's a pretty hard guy to scare but let me tell you whenever he tells the story it's like he's a different person he doesn't like talking about it but every so often at a
family gathering or a special occasion one of my relatives will ask him to tell it and he will my dad's name is John he was fishing with my uncle Matthew and their close friends Rich Jeff and Monty they had set out early before the sun had even broken The Horizon heading to a remote spot they had all agreed was prime fishing territory this place was a couple of hours boat ride from the nearest marina tucked away in a secluded Cove type area that few bothered to explore it was known among them for its abundant bass
on the occasional Pike the day started like any other fishing trip with the boat cutting smoothly through the Mist Rising off the water everyone sharing stories and jokes over the hum of the engine they anchored the boat in a familiar Cove surrounded by dense forest Monty was the first to crack open a beer even though it was so early in the morning my dad tells me all the time that Monty is his wild friend the one who tends to drink a little more than he should they fished for hours the only sounds being the occasional
split flash of aure hitting the water and their own laughter Oh and the occasional crunch of empty beer cans that they were drinking like water as the day wore on they had their fair share of catches each one sparking a small celebration as dusk approached the light began to wne a dense fog rolled in from the water my dad describes it as the boat literally being swallowed by fog Rich who was the most experienced fisherman of the group kept saying that he had never seen fog so thick that's how unnatural it was Jeff the jester
of the group was almost as drunk as Monty both of whom were seemingly unfazed by the fog that had ens snared them it was starting to get dark they had originally thought that they could just wait out the fog but it didn't seem to be going anywhere my dad and Rich agreed that Matthew should just try to drive the boat out of the cove and into the open ocean where the fog probably wouldn't be as dense Matthew agreed but even though he was typically the most cautious he only narrowly avoided colliding with the shore he
refused to risk further damage to his prized boat they reluctantly came to terms with the fact that they'd probably have to spend the night on the boat my dad made the point that they'd need to tell their families about the situation and of course they had drifted into an area of the Cove that had no signal my dad needed to handle some business at work so neglecting the problem was not an option he offered to go ashore in search of a signal and Rich and Jeff said they join him Matthew would stay back to guard
the boat and an increasingly inebriated Monty myad dad Jeff and Rich made their way over to the shore and jumped out of the boat only getting slightly wet my dad made a point of snagging the emergency flares in the boat just in case they got lost and needed to Signal Matthew to come find them the three of them made their way into the pitch black woods lit only by the shine of their phone flashlights my dad and his friends have all done their fair share of camping so it wasn't like a forest scared them too
much they began trekking uphill hoping that Higher Ground would give them a better chance of finding a signal my dad always made a point of emphasizing how dark yet eily foggy the forest was you could practically feel yourself slicing through the fog just as they were adjusting to the dense atmosphere a series of strange clicking noises began to permeate the silence first emerging from directly in front of them before encircling them completely these sounds were unlike any forest sounds they were familiar with it was rhythmic yet erratic as if someone was tapping out a code
meant only for the woods themselves the distinctiveness of the noise made one thing clear it was human made the realization that they weren't alone hit them like a freight train Rich the most seasoned of the trio when it came to outdoor survival whispered urgently for them to turn off their flashlights don't give away our position he hissed with a note of genuine concern in his voice as the light Switched Off the Darkness became thicker than the fog the clicking noises stopped abruptly replaced by a silence that seemed to weigh on their chests time lost meaning
as they stood there Frozen unsure of their next move I'm sure they were all thinking the same thing the idea that they might have stumbled upon some kind of clandestine Gathering or a Woods cult was terrifying then as suddenly as it had stopped the silence was broken by rustling noises this time much closer then silence again and then a guttural scream echoed through the trees a sound so Primal and full of Anguish that it rooted them to the spot before they could process what was happening rapid stomping noises thundered through the woods towards them the
three men took off back the way they had came acting on fear and pure Instinct my dad fired the flare gun behind them the flare cut through the fog lighting the woods up for a moment the woods were as clear as day and the sight that met their eyes was nothing short of horrifying illuminated by the Flare's red glow was a pack of more than 10 individuals dressed in what could only be described as tribal attire some of them brandished wooden Spears but the light from the flare only lasted a split second Jeff screamed and
almost stumbled but Rich quickly grabbed his arm to keep him upright my dad describes this part as the most overwhelming feeling of pure Terror he has ever experienced the forest seemed to fight against them as they fled ducking under branches and jumping over Roots by some miracle they emerged from the tree line panting and disorienting but alive they screamed at Matthew to start the engine the urgency in their voices leaving no room for question Matthew complied immediately and the boat lurched forward just as their pursuers reached the shoreline in the chaos my dad fired the
last flare into the air back towards the shore for a split second as the flares light pierced the fog they saw their pursuers at the water's edge it was freakish there must have been at least 15 of them just standing motionless at the water's edge the flares light faded and it was dark again Matthew managed to get a safe distance away and stop the boat again after the engine was off the only sounds were Jeff my dad and Rich's breathing my dad says he wasn't able to process what had happened for nearly an hour he
was functioning off pure adrenaline and survival instincts they ended up taking turns keeping watch while the others slept and left first thing in the morning as soon as the fog dissipated funnily enough Monty had passed out before everything went down and doesn't remember any of the details of that night I still get shivers down my spine when I tell this story I can only imagine what my dad must feel when he thinks back to [Music] it I've been fishing for as long as I can remember I'm almost 60 years old now and even though I've
been fishing thousands of times I can't think of any other way I'd rather spend the rest of my life my kids are all off living their own lives and things around the house are quiet now you could hear a pin drop most of the time sometimes I missed the old days being able to throw the pig skin around with my boys in the backyard but some things just aren't in the game plan anymore I usually fish with my pals from college but more often than not I found myself going at it alone like Lone Wolf
this was one of those times I haven't stepped foot outside Upstate New York in over 15 years I don't see a reason to we've got some of the best fishing lakes in the country and I plan on making full use of them it was mid April in the early season just after the ice out and before may hit for whatever reason I decided I wanted a more secluded spot this time around so I chose a non-descript lake in the middle of nowhere that was pretty small I drove up an hour before Sunrise so that I
could be out on the water when the sun poked through I unstrapped my kayak from the roof of the car and made my way over to the lake I rode out to the middle of the lake and admired the beautiful early colors starting to paint the sky it felt like home you can bet your bottom dollar I never trade a day like this for anything it was a little chilly but I've got skin- like steel I could tell the sun was just about to appear in the sky so I started gearing up I was shooting
for a largemouth bass so I made my way back to the outside edge of the weed beds planning to move back toward the middle of the lake if I got skunked I went for a 6 and 1/2 ft medium action spinning rod with 9lb mono filament line I was using a wacky rig which is a 4-in rubber stick worm my go-to for catching large mouth just before I was about to start what would hopefully be a swell day on the water I noticed something strange across the lake I couldn't quite see what was going on
but I could tell that there was movement at first I thought it was a fellow fisherman but curiosity got the better of me I reached into my napsack and pulled out my pair of binoculars I used for bird watching I looked across the lake and there were three figures wearing dark colors and hoods covering their faces they looked like they were digging a hole or something on the edge of the lake I kept watching they finished their hole and while I was expecting them to put something inside it they actually did the opposite one of
them pulled something out of the hole which I couldn't make out even with my binoculars then the other two did the same pulling out a few more things that I couldn't quite see I was beyond confused then I watched as they started tossing the items into the lake each one making a distinct Splash as it smacked the water something was wrong out of nowhere a wave of fear washed over me I didn't know who these people were but I started thinking they might be dangerous I didn't know what to do thankfully they started to leave
without noticing me I thought about turning a blind eye but couldn't bring myself to do it I waited until they disappeared into the woods and slowly rode my way over I was shaking at this point I got to the spot where I was pretty sure they had tossed everything I started fishing only this time I wasn't fishing for fish I was going for something else entirely I fished around for about an hour with no luck I had to try something different I racked my brain trying to figure out what I could do and just then
I remembered my depth cheacker I had it tucked away in my Volvo I was determined at this point I rode back to shore returned to my car retrieved the depth Checker and rode back to the spot I was sweating heavily at the point I poked around for a bit feeling nothing but squishy lake bottom and then I felt something hard something metal I made a mental note of the spot and grabbed my rod I took the rig off and replaced it with the largest hook I had I let the spool out slowly my pointer finger
feeling the gentle movement of the line 50 years of fishing experience was going into this one catch I felt the slight resistance in the line it had hit something I moved the line around slowly hoping I'd be able to snag it on whatever was down there after about a minute the line tugged a little harder than was normal I was snagged I reeled in slowly careful not to drop my catch what I pulled out of the water had me shivering in my boots I stared at the black 9mm on the end of my line those
thugs had thrown a gun into the lake I didn't feel safe anymore I didn't even bother looking around for the other items I reeled the gun into my kayak careful not to touch and high tailed it out of there as soon as I got to dry land I called the police they launched a full investigation and recovered several more unsettling things from the lake I insisted on watching them conduct their search because I needed to know what was at the bottom of that Lake they found a keychain with like seven keys on it and a
bunch of old foreign coins from different countries wrapped in a cloth the most Eerie thing they found though was a locket it was water locked so the pictures inside were faded and unintelligible the police told me they'd contact me if they ever connected these dots to some kind of crime they never called me though but the story didn't end there one night I don't remember how many days after this incident I heard someone in my front yard say that was the car I know it and then people snooping around my yard they never rang the
bell or knocked on the door but I heard multiple people circling my house and then they just left I have no idea if they were the same people and if they were I have no idea if I'm being watched any time I leave my house I alerted the police once more hoping this would reopen this investigation but nothing became of it once again I still have so many questions why would those items be buried in the first place and why would those people go back just to dig them up and hide them again maybe they
realized that there was a greater chance they'd be found in the ground so they went back and threw them in the lake or maybe those items had been in that hole for years and they decided to dig them up for some reason all in all this was the strangest thing that has ever happened to me while [Music] fishing throughout my life I would go through phases of different Hobbies I'd pick something that interests me obsess over it for a year or so and then find something new to keep myself entertained during the summer of 2022
I was big into fishing about an hour's drive away is a Shore House my family has owned for decades that's on the water with a lagoon and small Boston Whaler my friends and I would take frequent trips there to fish and just chill it was the following October after summer when my two friends Kevin and aryion decided to hit the shorehouse for a weekend to try to catch some striper as they're abundant during the fall months Kevin was an avid fisherman which was a big reason why I got into the whole fishing craze in the
first place unfortunately during this time our boat was out of the water due to maintenance so we'd have to fish off the beach and peers this was no problem though as Kevin had all the necessary rods and gear to do so we got together on a Friday afternoon and I drove us all down when we got there we fished during the day off of different peers along the inlet night rolled by and only one of us had caught fish which was Kevin of course it was just a small bass though nothing too exciting bummed about
our luck we decided to stay up late to fish off the beach during the night Kevin said he knew a good beach spot about 15 minutes away which took us down a desolate road with Woods on both sides it opened up into a small gravel parking area or at least what seemed like one Kevin said since we'd have to walk a little ways to the spot we should take everything we need now so we won't have to go back to the car to get anything we planned on staying up to catch the sunrise so we
packed accordingly we walked about 5 minutes down this path which opened up into a massive Beach we set up camp which consisted of beach chairs a speaker and two coolers one filled with ice for fish and one filled with snacks water and beers Kevin brought these massive fishing rods that were ideal for Beach fishing and also rod holders that you would hammer into the sand he also had these little bells that connect to the tip of the rod to notify you of any Movement we all casted our rods cracked a couple beers and played the
waiting game within 2 hours each of us had caught decent sized fish which definitely lightened our Spirits we were having a great time music blasting knowing that no one was around on this deserted Beach mid Sation Aran stopped talking lowered the music and jolted his head to the left he asked if we heard that to which we replied heard what it looked like he was concentrating on something for a second and then said I heard someone yell something we obviously thought he was hearing things or just joking with us but he insisted he heard someone
yell out something that sounded like a yo or a hey either way it seemed unlikely given that we were on some Hidden Beach at like 1:00 a.m. so he quickly forgot about it and our conversation resumed it definitely made us more aware though a couple minutes later right after I cast in a fresh hook I noticed something out of the corner of my eye there was something on the beach in the distance but I couldn't see what exactly the others noticed it too as it got closer we realized what it was a person walking towards
us we grew silent and turned off the music he came up to us it was a middle-aged white man maybe 40 or 50 he was wearing a dark blue jacket with a hat and Hood up the way he walked up to us was really sketchy and he had this intimidating look on his face we said what's up kind of awkwardly he just eyed us down for like 10 seconds and then said in a low voice what are you boys up to it was pretty apparent what we were up to Kevin said we're fishing and he
let out some grunt of acknowledgement and nodded his head he didn't say a word after that and just stood there looking at us and then the rods and then the water we shot each other looks thinking he was going to try and Rob us there's no way he could have taken on the three of us though the Bell on one of our rods broke the silence notifying us that we had potentially hooked a fish I said we got one kind of directed at everyone but mostly that weird guy in hopes that I would get some
response out of him like a normal person I walked over to the rods and reeled in a small striper when I went back to unhook the fish that man had turned around and left we watched as his dark silhouette faded away way into the night we made sure that we had all of our belongings then sat and just talked about how odd that encounter was he left without harming us though so we concluded that he was just some weird man who is now thankfully out of our business we kept the music off just to be
cautious and cracked a few more beers as our conversation transitioned to different topics at one point while staring into the Horizon I thought I heard something in the distance it took me a second to real realized what it was but when I did my heart dropped it was a car alarm I knew it was mine it was the only car in that lot and no houses were out there for probably miles we started panicking and decided to run back to the car leaving all of our stuff behind it took us a couple minutes to get
there and when we did I was completely distraught my tires had been slashed and my driver side window had been shattered I got on my phone with the police immediately and told them my location and situation the operator asked if I knew who may have done it and we said some sketchy guy came up to us as we were fishing she asked if I knew where he went and I said no just as I said this we heard rustling in the woods around us my heart rose into my throat I felt trapped we frantically ran
like 200 yd down the road and hid in the trees I told the operator this and she said to stay hidden and keep quiet within 10 minutes we saw two cop cars speed p with their lights on we ran back to the car and saw three officers searching the area multiple things had been stolen including my wallet some cash that was in the glove box and the remainder of Kevin's fishing gear they found a large knife lying on the ground nearby which they took for fingerprints and evidence I told them the whole story with my
adrenaline still pumping they said we were smart to run away and hide as it's very likely this man meant us harm those words made me appreciate my life so much more the officer made us feel safe and were nice enough to help us pack up the equipment and carry it back they took down our information and gave us a ride back to the house we stayed up all night reflecting on what had just happened that morning Aryan got us a ride up north and I picked up my car from the shop a few days later
to this day this is by far the most frightening experience I've ever had what was supposed to be a normal fishing trip became a terrifying ordeal that cost me hundreds of dollars worth of Damages I never got a call back and the police meaning that guy is probably still out there needless to say I gave up fishing as a hobby and haven't touched it since [Music]
