[Music] [Music] my Mom married my stepdad when I was around 8 years old and after they got married mom and I moved into my stepdad's house which was on a large piece of land about 20 acres it was just the three of us my mom my stepdad and me we had two big dogs at the time of this event we lived in that house for 14 years and I saw a lot of strange things during that time but among all those moments there was one story that sticks out the most one that I'll never forget
I was about 10 years old though I don't remember my exact age I just remember the present I got that year at that age I could use the bathroom by myself at night but I was still young enough that my mom would usually come check on me anyway so it was Christmas Eve and the house was decorated for the holidays with colorful lights and garlands but the house was quieter than usual so I could hear every little creek and that's when The Story begins our Christmas tree was always turned off at night except onm Christmas
Eve and when you walked in through the front door you were right in the living room Straight Ahead was what we called the hall but really it was just a small rectangle with doors on three of the four sides from the front door and living room you could see straight into the bathroom and when you walked towards the bathroom there was a closet on the left side and next to that was the bathroom door on the right you'd see my bed door then a small empty section of wall about the size of a door and
then my parents bedroom door the kitchen was just off to the left of the living room and shared a wall with the bathroom and closet we also had an unfinished basement that was a bit creepy with wooden stairs leading down to it from the living room near the kitchen and the back porch the basement was mostly used for storage and I didn't like going down there by myself so it was Christmas Eve and I got out of bed walked out of my bedroom and turned the corner to go into the bathroom of course I had
to take a quick look at the Christmas tree and the presents under it I thought I saw a monster truck I was a big fan of monster trucks back then and I really wanted a remote control one but I didn't stop to check because I really needed to go to the bathroom after I finished in the bathroom I got up and looked towards the living room again I really wanted to get a better look at my presence before going back to sleep in my house growing up we didn't close the doors unless we had guests
over so from where I was sitting I could see the front door and the glow of the Christmas tree I turned to flush the toilet and when I looked back up at the doorway between the hallway and the living room I saw the shadow of a boy he looked about my age from his height but he had his back to me so I couldn't see his face he was standing in the doorway using his left hand to hold on to the door frame while he leaned into the living room on his tiptoes to look at
the presence in his right hand he was holding a red lollipop his whole body looked dark because there wasn't much light and the Christmas lights were shining behind him I moved closer to the edge of the bathroom so that I was just inside the doorway if I had stretched out my arm I could have touched him I was standing there about to ask him what he was doing when he slowly came back down onto his flat feet and started to turn towards me as he began to turn I suddenly felt this intense feeling of dread
fear and worry I could see the side of his face and he was just smiling staring straight ahead right before he fully turned around my mom came out of her room and asked if I was okay in the split second that I looked at my mom and then back at the boy he was gone I pointed towards the living room and my mom thought I was just trying to peek at the presence so she tucked me back into bed I fell asleep quickly and completely forgot about it the next morning I did get my remote
control monster truck that year it was only years later that I remembered and told my mom about it she wasn't surprised because like I said a lot of strange things happened in that [Music] house something really creepy happened today about 10 hours ago and the more I think about it the scarier it feels my older sister I'm a guy by the way wanted to finish her Christmas shopping so she made a list of places to visit now one of the stops on her list was our local mall in Northern Virginia I went with her for
two reasons one she's really small and people often think she's attractive though I highly doubt it two she needed help deciding what to get me so I was supposed to point out some things I liked we had already gone to a few stores like Hot Topic and American Eagle but we were running out of places to look I'll admit I hadn't been very helpful in giving her ideas for gifts so far as we walked around we decided to check out Spencer because they usually have a good selection of t-shirts and some fun nostalgic items I
remembered they often carry cool Throwbacks from my childhood like old school Nickelodeon stuff which I thought could be interesting to look at we were at the back of the store looking at t-shirts but I wasn't having any luck finding something I liked or in my size while we were looking a guy came up and started checking out the same t-shirts as us he looked like he was in his late 30s or early 40s with short dark hair a long goatee an average build and was about 5' 8 in tall at first it didn't seem suspicious
sure we were the only two people in the back of the store but there was plenty of stuff to look at so it didn't feel like a big deal he was just holding a small coffee so it seemed normal enough then he looked at me and said they've got a lot of stuff in this store if you've been dispensers you know they sell some adult items in the back but those were on the opposite side from where we were I just nodded and kept looking at the t-shirts at first it seemed normal but then I
noticed he wasn't really looking at the merchandise anymore instead he kept glancing at me and my sister in a weird way we started to walk away going around a rack of clearance shirts and other stuff but he followed us staying right behind us the whole time my sister was clearly creeped out by this guy and honestly even though I'm 510 and 215 lb I was feeling weird about him too maybe it's because I have family in law enforcement but something about the situation just felt off so we looked at each other and she asked are
you ready to leave I said yes and pointed toward the front of the store where all the employees and other customers were as we were walking away I heard someone behind me say hey man I knew it was the same guy but I didn't want to talk to him since he had already made me uneasy so we kept walking my sister was about 5 ft ahead of me because I made sure not to let him get between us even though I ignored him he called out again hey man this time when I turned slightly I
saw him with his hand outstretched like he wanted to shake hands even though I knew he was trying to shake hands I just said what because I didn't see any reason to shake hands with this guy he replied well it was nice to meet you anyway that might not sound creepy except for the fact that we hadn't talked at all other than the one comment he made earlier I responded with nah I'm good man which clearly didn't sit well with him he then decided to say yeah we'll screw you too man which didn't bother me
since I had already turned around and started walking away I think he expected me to turn around and respond but when I didn't he followed up with more while this was happening my sister was sticking to our original plan and heading toward the exit the distance between us kept growing so she didn't notice what was going on until he yelled his final insult at me she quickly turned around looking confused and asked what's going on I could tell she didn't understand what had just just happened I stayed calm and told her just keep walking knowing
it wasn't worth making a scene or getting into it with this now Angry guy my focus was on keeping her safe and getting out of the store in the back of my mind I was ready to escalate if he decided to follow us out but luckily he stayed where he was and didn't try anything else we walked straight to the exit without looking back wanting to put some distance between us and him we immediately headed to a different store in the mall to take a moment and process what had just happened my adrenaline was still
rushing and for the next several minutes I couldn't stop glancing over my shoulder making sure he wasn't following us as we got to the car and drove away I couldn't shake the feeling of how close things came to being much worse it was a reminder to always trust your instincts and stay aware of your surroundings [Music] about 4 years ago when I was 8 months pregnant something weird happened my belly was big and noticeable because I was almost ready to have my baby I went to the local mall to do some Christmas shopping it was
around 9:00 at night when I finished after I got my shopping done I walked out of the mall to head to my truck at this mall there's a road that goes around the building and the parking lot is on the other side of the road so to get to the parking lot you have to cross the road as I was leaving the store I saw a man standing in the middle of the road he looked right at me and made eye contact I quickly looked away and kept walking at the same time two other men
walked past him to go into the mall he didn't look at them or say anything to them he just kept his eyes on me I noticed he started walking toward me excuse me can you help me being from the south I was raised to be polite so I couldn't ignore him I asked what do you need he looked around and said can you help me start my car I think my battery is very low now I may be polite but I'm not foolish if his car was really having trouble why would he ask a pregnant
woman for help instead of the two men who just walked past him that didn't make sense to me so at this point I knew it was time to leave I said sorry I can't help and kept walking but this time a little faster I could still see him from the corner of my eye and he was following me I had my keys out and was ready to get in my truck as soon as I reached it but he was still following me you're really not going to help me I just need a jump I replied
nope sorry I finally got to my truck unlocked it and got inside by now he was almost running toward me I locked the doors quickly and tried to put the key in the ignition but my hands were shaking so much that I couldn't get it to fit he reached my truck and started banging on the window then he grabbed the door handle and tried to open my door screaming just open the door that's when I lost my cool and made a quick decision I've taken self-defense classes before and knew I needed to act to protect
myself and my baby when he tried to open my door my only thought was to keep us safe I rolled down the window and said I'm not going to tell you again stop following me it felt like time stopped in that instant I didn't know what he would do next but I was ready to use the self-defense skills I had learned if he came any closer but fortunately he didn't he didn't say a word he just turned and walk away even though the danger was gone I couldn't leave right away I sat there Frozen and
shaken I couldn't stop thinking about how close I had come to being in serious Danger I was terrified not just about what could have happened but also about how quickly I had to act to protect myself and my baby it's not a situation I ever want to face again but I'm glad I trusted my [Music] instincts when I was about 8 or 9 years old something strange happened on Christmas Eve that I've never forgotten I believed in Santa Claus like most kids my age I was nervous and excited imagining Santa coming into our house to
leave present under the tree I remember lying in bed trying my hardest to fall asleep eventually I managed to drift off but then I woke up to the sound of soft Footsteps in my room I immediately thought it was Santa Claus I felt scared scared to look because I didn't want to ruin the magic or make him leave slowly I opened one eye just a little and I saw a dark figure standing by my bed staring down at me it was very tall maybe around 6 ft and its body was completely dark like it was
made of Shadows it seemed even darker than the room around it almost like it was sucking up the light and I couldn't see any eyes a nose or a mouth on its face but I could clearly make out the shape of its head arms body and legs it looked like a very tall person and because it was Christmas Eve I immediately thought it had to be Santa Claus I felt Frozen in my bed too scared to move or make a sound then it started to move taking a few slow steps closer to me it leaned
in closer still staying a few feet away from me and then stayed there for for another 10 or 15 seconds even though I couldn't see a face I could feel it looking right at me you know that strange feeling you get when you know someone is watching you that's what it felt like I shut my eyes tightly and stayed still too scared to move after a few minutes I opened my eyes again and it was gone the house I lived in was really old and the doors and floorboards were always squeaky and loud but I
didn't hear anything as it left I heard the footsteps but I never heard the door open I never saw that figure again even though I had other creepy experiences in the house the next morning I asked my mom if she heard Santa when he came into my room she looked confused for a moment then smiled and played along probably thinking I was just making it up I know this was wasn't a person and I know it wasn't just a dream it felt too real to be my imagination I've heard that Spirit or ghost are often
drawn to places with lots of energy excitement or emotions and Christmas is full of all of that [Music] I don't remember exactly how old I was but I know I was still in kindergarten every time my dad picked me up we often stopped at a park on our way home my dad is an amazing person and when I was little he would create treasure maps just for me he didn't stop there he actually went to the park beforehand and hid real Treasures like small toys or shiny coins and I'll always remember how much effort he
put into making those moments so so special we were at the park like we usually were and while we were walking I saw a sewer hole with steam coming out of it almost like it was a furnace we were walking toward it and I remember my dad saying look maybe this is where Santa makes gifts for the good kids I laughed a little because by then I already knew Santa wasn't real as we walked past the sewer I got curious and peaked through the small holes in the the cover the steam was thick but I
could still make out something unusual through the Mist I saw a man wearing a strange triangle-shaped hat it wasn't something you'd see every day and it gave me a weird feeling everything happened so quickly I only had a moment to look the man was sitting at a table and it seemed like he was writing something though I couldn't see exactly what when I saw him I remember freezing for a moment so many thoughts were running through my little head I wondered if he was a real elf and maybe my dad was telling the truth or
if my dad had hired someone to pretend just like he hid the treasures for me to find either way I didn't say anything to my dad and he didn't mention it either when we got home I was so excited that I told my grandma I had seen a Christmas elf in the park but I could tell tell she didn't believe me my dad was laughing too but he didn't say anything to confirm or deny it over the next few days I couldn't stop thinking about what I had seen I kept picturing the strange man in
the triangle-shaped Hat and wondering if it could really have been an elf eventually I convinced myself that my dad had probably planned it all maybe he had asked someone to dress up as an elf and sit in the sewer just like he hit Treasures for me in the park but a few years later when I finally asked my dad about it he said he never did anything like that and asked me more about what I saw I told him everything and he said it was probably just my wild imagination since I was so little at
the time but I know what I saw and I still remember it clearly even now I even went back to the same park to check the area but a lot of has changed the place looks completely different now there's no walking path and no sewer hole just plain grass what's even stranger is that as the years went by every time I remembered that man I started noticing similarities between him and myself I only saw him briefly and from behind it had the same color and texture as mine something I realized when I saw photos of
myself years years later after I'd grown up it felt weird almost like I was looking at an older version of myself but I can't say for sure maybe it's Just My Imagination Running Wild over the years trying to make sense of what I saw still it's something that sticks with me even now [Music]
