3 Terrifying TRUE Fall Horror Stories — Transcript

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1. 0:13I grew up in a small town in New York
2. 0:15State.
3. 0:16The weather where I lived was so
4. 0:17unpredictable sometimes that it makes
5. 0:19living there a headache, especially in
6. 0:21the winter.
7. 0:22It wasn't until I moved down south that
8. 0:24I realized how much I missed the
9. 0:26changing of the seasons, specifically
10. 0:28the fall season.
11. 0:30Something about the leaves changing
12. 0:31color always got me in that cozy mood.
13. 0:34A few years ago, I was telling my wife
14. 0:36how beautiful fall was where I grew up.
15. 0:39Ironically, her name is Autumn, and yet
16. 0:41she never got to experience a northern
17. 0:43fall season.
18. 0:44She grew up down here and never left for
19. 0:46the most part.
20. 0:47Other than movies and pop culture, she
21. 0:50didn't really get the whole changing of
22. 0:51the season hype.
23. 0:53She didn't understand why looking at a
24. 0:54bunch of leaves was considered
25. 0:56beautiful.
26. 0:57It wasn't until she said that that I
27. 0:59realized I had no idea how to explain to
28. 1:01someone why it's considered beautiful.
29. 1:04It's one of those things that I think
30. 1:05you just need to witness yourself, and
31. 1:07that's what I told Autumn.
32. 1:09That's why we decided to take a trip up
33. 1:11north to look at the leaves.
34. 1:13We found a beautiful house to rent for
35. 1:15the week in Upstate New York.
36. 1:17The pictures online of this place were
37. 1:18breathtaking.
38. 1:20We couldn't wait.
39. 1:21We decided to drive, which I ended up
40. 1:23regretting since it was about a 12-hour
41. 1:25drive from our house.
42. 1:27I will say it was an awesome experience
43. 1:29to see Autumn's face light up and change
44. 1:31as we kept driving north.
45. 1:33It was like we were watching the leaves
46. 1:34change in front of our eyes.
47. 1:36>> [music]
48. 1:37>> As we were getting close to the house,
49. 1:38we both pointed out that it was in the
50. 1:40middle of nowhere.
51. 1:42There was a gas station about 2 miles
52. 1:43down the road, a couple of houses, but
53. 1:46for the most part, it was nothing but
54. 1:47trees.
55. 1:49A lot of people don't realize that New
56. 1:50York is huge, and a giant chunk of the
57. 1:52state is forests and wilderness.
58. 1:55Autumn always just associated New York
59. 1:57State with New York City, and trust me,
60. 1:59it's vastly different.
61. 2:02We had a message from the property owner
62. 2:03that the GPS can sometimes struggle to
63. 2:05find the house.
64. 2:07The reason is that the house is down a
65. 2:08long dirt road.
66. 2:10From the main road where the gas station
67. 2:12was located, we had to find a makeshift
68. 2:14sign on the side of the road that had
69. 2:15the address of the house where we were
70. 2:17staying at, accompanied by an arrow.
71. 2:20After a few minutes, we finally found
72. 2:21the sign.
73. 2:23I almost missed it.
74. 2:25The dirt road is barely visible, and
75. 2:26it's completely covered by trees.
76. 2:29I turned the car quickly so I didn't
77. 2:30overshoot the dirt road, and both of us
78. 2:32screamed out instantly.
79. 2:35Not because of my frantic turn, but
80. 2:36because there was an old, rusty, blue
81. 2:38pickup truck driving right towards us.
82. 2:41We swerved out of the way just enough
83. 2:43for the truck to pass us.
84. 2:45I was yelling a bit, but once the truck
85. 2:46had completely passed us, I got over it.
86. 2:49We drove down the long and very bumpy
87. 2:51road for a few minutes.
88. 2:53The road was long enough that I started
89. 2:55to doubt that we were even on the
90. 2:56correct dirt road.
91. 2:58That doubt didn't last very long because
92. 3:00after about 2 minutes, we drove up to
93. 3:02the beautiful cabin.
94. 3:04The place looked exactly as advertised.
95. 3:07It was a beautiful cabin that had a back
96. 3:09deck that overlooked a sea of changing
97. 3:11trees.
98. 3:12We must have been on a mountain because
99. 3:13we were definitely elevated high enough
100. 3:15to see nothing but treetops on the
101. 3:17horizon.
102. 3:18After about 2 minutes of being at this
103. 3:20place, Autumn was loving life.
104. 3:23The sights, the smells, and just the
105. 3:25overall vibe were magical.
106. 3:27We arrived at the house a little after
107. 3:293:00 in the afternoon.
108. 3:30After we brought our bags inside, we
109. 3:32spent the few hours of daylight we had
110. 3:34left hiking the area around the cabin.
111. 3:37We didn't want to stray too far away
112. 3:38since we weren't exactly comfortable
113. 3:40with our surroundings.
114. 3:42That evening, we ate some sandwiches
115. 3:43that we brought with us and sat on the
116. 3:45back deck and stared at the night sky.
117. 3:48That's when Autumn accidentally gave me
118. 3:49a bad feeling in my gut that I wasn't
119. 3:51able to get rid of.
120. 3:53She mentioned the blue pickup truck that
121. 3:54we almost hit.
122. 3:56She asked where I thought it came from
123. 3:57since there were no other houses on this
124. 3:59dirt road except the one we were at.
125. 4:02It was a great question.
126. 4:04I told her that it was probably just a
127. 4:05maintenance person or someone else that
128. 4:07the property manager hired.
129. 4:09I had no idea, but that seemed like the
130. 4:11best answer I could come up with to ease
131. 4:13both of our minds.
132. 4:15We sat outside for a while just talking.
133. 4:17She was having the time of her life, but
134. 4:19I couldn't get rid of that pit in my
135. 4:20stomach.
136. 4:22We finally went inside for the night at
137. 4:2411:00.
138. 4:25We had a few drinks and played some
139. 4:26cards for a while.
140. 4:28I kept hearing these noises that sounded
141. 4:30like bumps. I couldn't tell if they were
142. 4:32coming from inside or outside.
143. 4:34Instead of dwelling on them, I chose to
144. 4:36try and ignore them.
145. 4:38The noises were subtle and I was
146. 4:40confident that it wasn't anything to
147. 4:41worry about.
148. 4:42Since Autumn wasn't reacting to the
149. 4:44noises at all, I kept them to myself.
150. 4:47I didn't want to freak her out since she
151. 4:49was really enjoying herself.
152. 4:51I'm not sure exactly how long we played
153. 4:53cards, but eventually we went to bed.
154. 4:56Well, she went right to bed. I made sure
155. 4:58I checked all the locks before I got
156. 5:00into bed.
157. 5:01Not only did I lock the sliding glass
158. 5:03door, but I also put that wooden bar in
159. 5:05between the two doors, which serves as a
160. 5:07sort of deadbolt lock.
161. 5:09After that, I finally got into bed.
162. 5:12I struggled to sleep for a while.
163. 5:14I must have fallen asleep at some point
164. 5:16because I woke up in the middle of the
165. 5:17night to Autumn getting out of bed.
166. 5:20Since I was still on edge, I jumped up
167. 5:22and asked her what was going on.
168. 5:24She apologized for waking me up and told
169. 5:26me she just needed to go to the bathroom
170. 5:27and that she'd be right back.
171. 5:29From the bedroom, the bathroom was down
172. 5:31the hall and to the right.
173. 5:33Across from the bathroom was an open
174. 5:35floor plan that contained the kitchen,
175. 5:37living room, and a small dining area.
176. 5:40She kissed my forehead as I lay back
177. 5:41down and she made her way to the
178. 5:43bathroom.
179. 5:44She was gone for maybe 2 minutes, so I
180. 5:46didn't fall back asleep yet.
181. 5:48However, when she came back is when the
182. 5:50nightmare truly began.
183. 5:52She sprinted back to the bedroom and
184. 5:54shut the door.
185. 5:56I jumped up again just because the sound
186. 5:57of her shutting the door like that
187. 5:58scared me.
188. 6:00When I asked her what was going on, she
189. 6:02didn't answer me right away.
190. 6:04I turned on the light that was on the
191. 6:05bedside table, and I could see that she
192. 6:07looked terrified.
193. 6:08She was shaking.
194. 6:10When I asked her again what [music] was
195. 6:11going on, she was finally able to spit
196. 6:13the words out.
197. 6:15She said that she had the bathroom door
198. 6:16open when she was in there.
199. 6:18When she was done, she was washing her
200. 6:20hands in the sink, and she looked up in
201. 6:21the mirror.
202. 6:23In the reflection of the mirror, she
203. 6:24thought she saw something move in the
204. 6:26kitchen behind her.
205. 6:27She turned around and looked into the
206. 6:29kitchen.
207. 6:30It was dark. The only light that was on
208. 6:32was the bathroom light, and it was only
209. 6:34slightly illuminating the kitchen area.
210. 6:37She took one step closer trying to focus
211. 6:39her eyes in the mostly dark room.
212. 6:41And when she did, she saw someone backed
213. 6:43up against the pantry,
214. 6:44>> [music]
215. 6:44>> like they were trying to stay hidden.
216. 6:47She was barely able to get the words
217. 6:49out.
218. 6:50I was in shock and disbelief. [music]
219. 6:52Not that I didn't believe her, I just
220. 6:54couldn't believe that something like
221. 6:55this could actually happen to you.
222. 6:57I was hoping that she was just making a
223. 6:59mistake, or maybe it was only her
224. 7:00shadow.
225. 7:02I told her that I was just going to look
226. 7:03quickly.
227. 7:04She begged me not to, but for some
228. 7:06reason, I'm an idiot, and in the moment
229. 7:08it seemed like the best thing to do.
230. 7:11I opened the door, and at the end of the
231. 7:12hall, I saw the light from the bathroom
232. 7:14still shining out into the main room
233. 7:16where the kitchen was.
234. 7:18I took a few steps down the hall, and
235. 7:20just before I entered the main room, I
236. 7:22heard the sound of something hitting the
237. 7:23floor and rolling.
238. 7:25And then the sound of the sliding door
239. 7:26to the back deck opening.
240. 7:28Once I was in the room, I saw the wooden
241. 7:30bar rolling on the ground, and the
242. 7:32curtain moving in front of the sliding
243. 7:33door from the wind.
244. 7:35The door had clearly been opened, and
245. 7:36because that wooden bar was still
246. 7:38rolling, it must have just been opened.
247. 7:40But I didn't see anyone.
248. 7:42I ran back to the bedroom and told
249. 7:44Autumn what I saw.
250. 7:45We gathered our things and got ready to
251. 7:47leave.
252. 7:48We were both terrified to leave the
253. 7:50bedroom and go back down the hall, so
254. 7:52she suggested climbing out the window of
255. 7:53the bedroom instead.
256. 7:55I looked out the window and did the best
257. 7:57I could to see if anyone was out there.
258. 8:00I didn't see anything.
259. 8:01Thankfully, the cabin was only one
260. 8:03floor.
261. 8:04We both jumped out and sprinted to the
262. 8:06car.
263. 8:07We drove off and I didn't see anyone
264. 8:09when I did.
265. 8:10Autumn was trying to call the police at
266. 8:12first and then the property owner, but
267. 8:13the service was horrible.
268. 8:16We drove until we made it to the gas
269. 8:17station, which was conveniently a
270. 8:1924-hour gas station.
271. 8:21Once we got there, we had a faint
272. 8:23signal.
273. 8:24I called the property owner who
274. 8:25surprisingly answered the phone even
275. 8:27though it was almost 4:00 in the
276. 8:28morning.
277. 8:29I told him what happened and that we
278. 8:31were leaving right away.
279. 8:32I also told him that the back door was
280. 8:34still open because we were too scared to
281. 8:36go back into the living room and close
282. 8:37it.
283. 8:38He felt terrible and sounded almost
284. 8:40confused. Some of these property owners
285. 8:42can be jerks, but he actually refunded a
286. 8:44giant chunk of the money.
287. 8:46We didn't call the police because we
288. 8:48just wanted to be done and wanted to be
289. 8:49home.
290. 8:51As we were pulling out of the gas
291. 8:52station, Autumn pointed something out to
292. 8:54me.
293. 8:55Parked on the side of the building was
294. 8:57an old, rusty, blue pickup truck that
295. 8:59looked exactly like the one we saw on
296. 9:01the dirt road earlier.
297. 9:03We peeled out of the gas station and
298. 9:04drove as fast as we could.
299. 9:06The truck never followed us and
300. 9:08honestly, I'm sure seeing the truck
301. 9:10there was probably a coincidence. After
302. 9:12all, it was a very small town.
303. 9:15I don't know what would have happened if
304. 9:17she didn't wake up to use the bathroom
305. 9:18that night. Maybe nothing,
306. 9:20but I'm just happy that we never had to
307. 9:22find out.
308. 9:33In 2015, [music]
309. 9:34I had temporarily moved to a small town
310. 9:36way up north for work.
311. 9:38There wasn't much to do in the town.
312. 9:40I was already dreading the 6 months that
313. 9:42I needed to live there.
314. 9:44But, it didn't take long for me to
315. 9:46change my mind about that.
316. 9:48It ended up being a mostly positive
317. 9:49experience. That's because the small
318. 9:51community was fantastic. [music]
319. 9:53As soon as I got to the town, for the
320. 9:55first time, all I could think of was
321. 9:57[music] every small town in every horror
322. 9:59movie.
323. 10:00But, this couldn't have been further
324. 10:01from the truth.
325. 10:03The people were charming, helpful, and
326. 10:05kept their distance if that's what you
327. 10:06wanted.
328. 10:07What I didn't realize when I moved there
329. 10:09was just how incredible the scenery
330. 10:10looked.
331. 10:12I moved there toward the end of
332. 10:13September, and the leaves had already
333. 10:14started turning.
334. 10:16The scenery was just the icing [music]
335. 10:17on the cake for me.
336. 10:19I love to be outside, but I never had
337. 10:21the opportunity to hike [music] and
338. 10:22explore the woods in my hometown.
339. 10:24For the first few weeks I was there, I
340. 10:26spent most of my [music] time outside
341. 10:28hiking and trying to get familiar with
342. 10:30all the forest trails, and there were
343. 10:31many.
344. 10:33I know all this sounds amazing, but not
345. 10:35everything can be perfect.
346. 10:37Even though the majority [music] of my
347. 10:38stay there was great, during the first
348. 10:40few weeks I had an issue.
349. 10:43I truly believe I was one bad decision
350. 10:45away from an actual nightmare.
351. 10:47I would begin every morning [music] with
352. 10:48a jog around the neighborhood.
353. 10:50It was my way of getting familiar with
354. 10:52the area, and also a way for the
355. 10:53neighbors to see me and become familiar
356. 10:55with me.
357. 10:56After the jog, I would go inside and get
358. 10:58myself ready for work.
359. 11:00Since most of my job involved research
360. 11:02and computer work, it's not like it took
361. 11:04me long to get ready.
362. 11:06I worked from 9:00 to 5:00 on most days,
363. 11:08and I had the weekends [music] off.
364. 11:10On the weekends is when I would attempt
365. 11:11to hike all the trails around town.
366. 11:13The locals warned me to make sure I
367. 11:15stayed on the trails, specifically where
368. 11:17they were marked. [music]
369. 11:19Apparently, the woods around town were
370. 11:20dangerous, and there's a lot of steep
371. 11:22cliffs, thick brush, and a ton of bears.
372. 11:25A lot of people over the [music] years
373. 11:26have gotten hurt and even died in the
374. 11:28woods when they stray off the paths.
375. 11:30I appreciated the warning, even though I
376. 11:32would never stray from the trail,
377. 11:33[music] no matter where I was hiking.
378. 11:35I just wasn't the most experienced hiker
379. 11:38yet.
380. 11:39On one brisk and misty [music] Saturday,
381. 11:41I was hiking one of the trails around
382. 11:42town that I had only walked one other
383. 11:44time since I'd been in town. [music]
384. 11:46On my previous walk on that trail, I
385. 11:48only walked about half the distance of
386. 11:50the trail before I turned around and
387. 11:51went back [music] home.
388. 11:53This time, I planned on completing the
389. 11:54multiple mile hike.
390. 11:56I walked for nearly an hour when I saw
391. 11:58that one of the trail markers was off to
392. 12:00the side where the brush was much
393. 12:01thicker.
394. 12:02I thought it was a mistake when I
395. 12:03approached the marker.
396. 12:05It wasn't until I was standing next to
397. 12:07the trail marker that I noticed the next
398. 12:09trail marker about 10 ft to the left,
399. 12:11even further into the thick part of the
400. 12:13forest.
401. 12:14They were a bright blue color, so they
402. 12:16stuck out in the woods.
403. 12:18I continued to look in the direction of
404. 12:19the other marker, and I saw another blue
405. 12:21ribbon peeking through the trees,
406. 12:23indicating that I was going the right
407. 12:25way, even though it seemed wrong.
408. 12:27The reason why I thought it was a
409. 12:29mistake at first was that it seemed like
410. 12:30the marker was taking me off the trail.
411. 12:33But when I saw the other blue ribbons in
412. 12:34the distance, I assumed that it was
413. 12:36purposely taking me through the thick
414. 12:38part of the forest. [music]
415. 12:39I continued to walk for a while, and I
416. 12:41never stopped second-guessing myself.
417. 12:44The bright blue markers were taking me
418. 12:45in all sorts of directions.
419. 12:48It also wasn't an easy hike. I couldn't
420. 12:50see somebody who wasn't in good shape
421. 12:52making this trip.
422. 12:5430 minutes later, I was finally on a
423. 12:56patch of land that wasn't just overtaken
424. 12:58with trees and roots.
425. 13:00There also wasn't [music] any more of
426. 13:01those blue trail markers anywhere,
427. 13:02either.
428. 13:04I walked around the small clearing for a
429. 13:05few minutes to see if I could find a
430. 13:07trail or one of the blue ribbons in the
431. 13:09distance, but there was nothing.
432. 13:11I felt disoriented and lost.
433. 13:14I thought about continuing forward since
434. 13:15I had already gone this far, but I kept
435. 13:17telling myself that the safe bet would
436. 13:19be to turn around and try to find my way
437. 13:21back the way I came.
438. 13:23Following the blue markers was a lot
439. 13:24harder from this direction because many
440. 13:26of them were nailed to the front of the
441. 13:27tree, so I couldn't see them from this
442. 13:29direction.
443. 13:31After my internal debate, I decided that
444. 13:33I was going to take my time and just
445. 13:34head back.
446. 13:36Before I started the journey back, I sat
447. 13:38on a fallen tree and drank some water.
448. 13:41While I was still sitting there, I heard
449. 13:43someone behind me clear their throat.
450. 13:45On its own, that wouldn't be scary at
451. 13:47all. But when you're in the middle of
452. 13:49the woods, potentially lost, and haven't
453. 13:51seen one other soul since you've been
454. 13:52out there, hearing that almost made me
455. 13:55spit out my water.
456. 13:57I almost didn't want to turn around.
457. 13:59I was horrified that someone was going
458. 14:00to be running after me.
459. 14:02But curiosity got the better of me. I
460. 14:05wanted to know if someone was really
461. 14:06back there, and if I was potentially in
462. 14:08danger.
463. 14:09I turned around, and I still can't
464. 14:11really believe what I saw.
465. 14:13There was a man about 20 [music] ft or
466. 14:15so away,
467. 14:16but it wasn't threatening,
468. 14:18or at least it didn't feel that way.
469. 14:20It was a normal-looking man, most likely
470. 14:22in his 40s.
471. 14:24He was waving at me, but not in a creepy
472. 14:26way, more like a howdy neighbor kind of
473. 14:29way.
474. 14:30But the strangest thing about
475. 14:31encountering this man in the middle of
476. 14:32the woods was what he was wearing.
477. 14:35He had a gray suit on with a pink tie.
478. 14:38He stuck out in the woods like a sore
479. 14:40thumb.
480. 14:41Not taking any chances, I jumped back to
481. 14:43my feet from the tree and waved back at
482. 14:45the man.
483. 14:46I tried to walk in the opposite
484. 14:47direction, but the man started to speak.
485. 14:50He kept saying, "Excuse me," but I was
486. 14:53pretending that I couldn't hear him.
487. 14:55Then he sounded like he was pleading and
488. 14:56started saying, "Please, ma'am."
489. 14:59It sounded like there may have been
490. 15:01genuine fear in his voice.
491. 15:03Being kind to strangers is one of my
492. 15:05weaknesses, so I stopped and turned
493. 15:07around.
494. 15:08When I was facing the man, he started to
495. 15:10thank me as he jogged over to where I
496. 15:12was standing.
497. 15:13When he was only a couple of feet away,
498. 15:15I put out my hands and told him that was
499. 15:17far enough.
500. 15:18He kept nodding, telling me that he
501. 15:20understood, even though he continued to
502. 15:22inch closer to where I was standing.
503. 15:24I got to a point where I had to get more
504. 15:26firm than I normally would, and I told
505. 15:28him that he needed to stop walking
506. 15:29toward me.
507. 15:31That's when he finally stopped walking.
508. 15:33He was about 2 ft away from me.
509. 15:35I could see that his suit was all torn
510. 15:37up and his skin was filthy.
511. 15:39I was expecting him to ask for help or
512. 15:41something like that, but he didn't.
513. 15:43He told me that he found something
514. 15:44incredible on the other side of the
515. 15:46clearing, and nobody's going to believe
516. 15:48it.
517. 15:49I told him that sounded amazing, and
518. 15:50that I believed him, but that I was also
519. 15:52late and needed to get going.
520. 15:55He started to inch closer again and told
521. 15:57me that I had to see it [music] to
522. 15:58believe it.
523. 15:59In case it's not obvious, even though
524. 16:01initially I wasn't freaked out by this
525. 16:03guy,
526. 16:04now I was in a full panic,
527. 16:06especially because I couldn't get him to
528. 16:07stop inching closer to me.
529. 16:10Thinking on my feet, literally, I told
530. 16:12him that I wanted to see what he found.
531. 16:14He lit up with excitement. I told him to
532. 16:17lead the way and I'll follow.
533. 16:19He paused for a second, but then agreed.
534. 16:22As soon as he turned around and took a
535. 16:23step, I turned in the opposite direction
536. 16:26and attempted to sprint away.
537. 16:28He yelled at the top of his lungs and
538. 16:29tried to grab my arm, but I was moving
539. 16:32quickly enough that he wasn't able to
540. 16:33grab me.
541. 16:34I heard him start to yell the word "no"
542. 16:36repeatedly,
543. 16:37>> [music]
544. 16:37>> but I continued to run.
545. 16:39I ran for a while and I had no idea
546. 16:41where I was.
547. 16:43Even though I didn't see the man, I ran
548. 16:45like he was chasing me.
549. 16:47Finally, I ran into some people who were
550. 16:48hiking.
551. 16:50I had made it to the actual trail,
552. 16:52and I was nowhere near where I first
553. 16:54went off the trail.
554. 16:55I found out after that someone had moved
555. 16:57the trail markers.
556. 16:59Someone went through a lot of trouble to
557. 17:01move a bunch of those ribbons and place
558. 17:02them on different parts of the woods.
559. 17:05I did report this to the authorities,
560. 17:06but nothing ever happened regarding it.
561. 17:09Unfortunately, it just wasn't a lot of
562. 17:11information for the cops to go on.
563. 17:13I didn't go on one of those hikes for a
564. 17:15while, and I think it's easy to see why.
565. 17:18Even today, I still get weary in the
566. 17:20woods sometimes.
567. 17:22If I had to guess, I would say that man
568. 17:24in that suit is the one that moved the
569. 17:25ribbons.
570. 17:36This may be an unpopular opinion, but I
571. 17:38hate the fall.
572. 17:40It's just like spring, which is another
573. 17:42season I hate. It's muddy, and
574. 17:44everything always smells like mud and
575. 17:46dirt. Not to mention, once fall is here,
576. 17:49it means that winter is right around the
577. 17:50corner. But now, there's another reason
578. 17:52I hate the fall season.
579. 17:54My son is currently 10 years old, but
580. 17:56when he was four, something disturbing
581. 17:58happened.
582. 17:59And I'm reminded of it every year around
583. 18:01fall time.
584. 18:03I've been sitting on this story for
585. 18:04years just because I hate reliving it.
586. 18:07Now that my son is a little older, I'm
587. 18:08ready to share it.
588. 18:10It was a cold fall morning, and our
589. 18:12family dog woke me up at 5:00 a.m. to
590. 18:14let him out.
591. 18:15This wasn't a fluke, either. It was like
592. 18:17clockwork with him.
593. 18:195:00 in the morning means time to wake
594. 18:21dad up.
595. 18:22He loved going outside.
596. 18:24He would do his business, and then run
597. 18:25around like a fool for a few minutes
598. 18:27until I would let him in.
599. 18:29We were fortunate enough to have a huge
600. 18:31backyard in that house.
601. 18:33I didn't mind these early wake-up calls
602. 18:34much as you think. Back then, I was
603. 18:37still an avid smoker.
604. 18:39When I would let the dog out, I would
605. 18:40also go outside and smoke a cigarette.
606. 18:43On that morning, while I was outside
607. 18:45freezing, I saw that the dog wasn't
608. 18:47running around like he normally does.
609. 18:49I walked off the deck and approached the
610. 18:51dog just to make sure he was okay.
611. 18:53He was sniffing the ground, which is
612. 18:55normal dog behavior.
613. 18:57Just when I was about to walk away, I
614. 18:59noticed what he was sniffing.
615. 19:01Right there in my disgusting muddy
616. 19:03backyard was a set of footprints in the
617. 19:05mud.
618. 19:06I followed the footprints, which started
619. 19:08at the fence.
620. 19:09Then, in the opposite direction, they
621. 19:11went toward my driveway, and then
622. 19:13eventually the mud faded around the
623. 19:14road.
624. 19:15For some people, this would already be
625. 19:17ringing every alarm bell in your head,
626. 19:19but I barely thought twice about it.
627. 19:22Mainly because the neighborhood we lived
628. 19:23in was filled with children and many of
629. 19:25those kids would jump the fences and cut
630. 19:27through backyards.
631. 19:28I wasn't crazy about it, but I dealt
632. 19:30with it. As long as they didn't do
633. 19:32anything wrong, I didn't care.
634. 19:34None of the other parents in the
635. 19:35neighborhood seemed to care, so I didn't
636. 19:37want to be the only mean guy.
637. 19:39I did that when I was a kid as well, so
638. 19:41I just accepted it and moved on.
639. 19:43That morning, I was having breakfast
640. 19:45with my wife and son.
641. 19:47He looked exhausted.
642. 19:49We were trying to talk to him and see if
643. 19:50there was anything he wanted to do today
644. 19:51since all three of us were off, but he
645. 19:54seemed eager to get back to his room for
646. 19:55some reason.
647. 19:57After breakfast, I watched him run back
648. 19:59to his room and shut the door, which is
649. 20:01weird behavior for a 4-year-old.
650. 20:03I walked to his room and quietly opened
651. 20:05the door.
652. 20:06He didn't hear me, so I just watched for
653. 20:08a moment.
654. 20:09He was staring out the window.
655. 20:11It also sounded like he was trying to
656. 20:13get someone's attention.
657. 20:15He looked almost sad.
658. 20:17That's when I made myself known.
659. 20:19I asked what was going on and he was
660. 20:21quiet. He just kept saying that he was
661. 20:23not sad even though he looked upset.
662. 20:26The three of us stayed in that day and
663. 20:27just had a relaxing day at home.
664. 20:29Nothing of note happened during the day.
665. 20:32That night, I fell asleep on the couch
666. 20:34watching college football.
667. 20:36I got up around midnight, turned the TV
668. 20:38off, and started making my way to the
669. 20:40bedroom.
670. 20:41Our room was upstairs and my son's room
671. 20:43was on the first floor.
672. 20:45I passed his room just to check on him.
673. 20:47And when I did, I could hear him
674. 20:49talking.
675. 20:50I could only hear his voice.
676. 20:52The door was cracked, so I opened it
677. 20:54fully and he was standing by the window
678. 20:56talking.
679. 20:58I asked what was going on and my son
680. 21:00jumped and then ran back to his bed.
681. 21:03I went over to the window and looked
682. 21:04outside, but I didn't see anything.
683. 21:07It was foggy and dark outside.
684. 21:10I asked him one last time who he was
685. 21:11talking to, but he told me he wasn't
686. 21:13talking to anyone and that he just
687. 21:15wanted to go to sleep.
688. 21:16As a parent, I just felt like something
689. 21:18wasn't right. Kids do weird stuff all
690. 21:21the time, but this just wasn't normal
691. 21:22for him.
692. 21:24I got into bed and I couldn't stop
693. 21:26thinking about him talking to the
694. 21:27window.
695. 21:28I realized that kids have imaginary
696. 21:30friends all the time, but he never did
697. 21:32up until this point.
698. 21:33I don't actually know when kids go
699. 21:36through that phase, so I remember
700. 21:37thinking that maybe that phase was
701. 21:39getting ready to start now.
702. 21:41I remember also thinking that maybe he
703. 21:43was having a vivid dream.
704. 21:45Apparently, I used to walk and talk in
705. 21:47my sleep as a kid.
706. 21:48The more I continued to rationalize it,
707. 21:50the better I felt.
708. 21:52I was going in and out of sleep when the
709. 21:54dog started to nudge me.
710. 21:56I got up to let him out thinking that it
711. 21:58must be 5:00 already.
712. 22:00When the dog got outside, he barked and
713. 22:02ran out there faster than I'd ever seen
714. 22:04before.
715. 22:05He never barks when he goes outside, so
716. 22:07I thought that was weird.
717. 22:09I followed the dog and once again, there
718. 22:12were footprints in the mud.
719. 22:14This time the footprints looked like
720. 22:15they went toward the house, specifically
721. 22:17my son's bedroom.
722. 22:19That was also where the dog ran when I
723. 22:21opened the door.
724. 22:22I ran over to the window and that's
725. 22:24where the footprints looked like they
726. 22:25stopped at first.
727. 22:27They went right up to the house
728. 22:29and there was even mud on the siding.
729. 22:31There was also a pumpkin on the ground
730. 22:32next to the window.
731. 22:34I was looking all around and I didn't
732. 22:36see anyone.
733. 22:37From that spot, the footprints kept
734. 22:39going right and ended [music] at the
735. 22:40fence.
736. 22:42There was a muddy trail up the side of
737. 22:43the fence.
738. 22:44I went back over to the window and
739. 22:46cupped my hands.
740. 22:47My son was lying in bed.
741. 22:49I ran back inside and into my son's
742. 22:51room.
743. 22:52As quietly as I could, I checked all the
744. 22:54windows in his room.
745. 22:56They were all locked.
746. 22:57That's when I finally saw the time.
747. 23:00It hadn't been that long since I left
748. 23:01his room and went to bed.
749. 23:03The dog must have heard something
750. 23:04outside that he didn't like and woke me
751. 23:06up.
752. 23:07I sat in his room for the rest of the
753. 23:09night.
754. 23:10I went outside and walked to the other
755. 23:11side of the fence. The footprints led to
756. 23:14the front of my house and behind one of
757. 23:15the bushes.
758. 23:16The bush was right in front of the
759. 23:18living room window.
760. 23:19I checked the bush and there was nobody
761. 23:21there. But just like the window in my
762. 23:23son's room, there was mud on the siding
763. 23:25underneath the window.
764. 23:27Since I couldn't tell if he left that
765. 23:28spot and ran in another direction, I was
766. 23:31terrified that he might be inside.
767. 23:33I checked the window and it was locked,
768. 23:36but I still wasn't convinced. Even after
769. 23:38I searched the entire house, I was still
770. 23:40scared that somebody [music] was inside
771. 23:42or at least trying to get inside.
772. 23:44I called the police and reported what
773. 23:46happened.
774. 23:47They were great, especially with my son.
775. 23:50He went on to tell the police that a man
776. 23:51came to his window two nights in a row.
777. 23:53>> [music]
778. 23:54>> The first night, he just wanted to talk.
779. 23:56He told him that he would have an
780. 23:57amazing surprise for him tomorrow, but
781. 23:59he just needed to be quiet.
782. 24:01After the brief [music] interaction, he
783. 24:03left.
784. 24:04When he showed up on the second night,
785. 24:06he offered to give him a pumpkin that he
786. 24:07could make a spooky jack-o'-lantern
787. 24:09with.
788. 24:10My son told the man he didn't like
789. 24:11spooky things, so he didn't want the
790. 24:13pumpkin.
791. 24:14It was around that time I let the dog
792. 24:16out, which must have caused the man to
793. 24:17run away and jump the fence.
794. 24:19The police think that [music] he tried
795. 24:21to break into the house at several
796. 24:22different places around the house, but
797. 24:24was unsuccessful.
798. 24:26As far as I know, that man never came
799. 24:28back again.
800. 24:29For the next few years that we stayed at
801. 24:31that house, I hardly ever slept. I was
802. 24:33constantly checking locks and looking
803. 24:35out windows.
804. 24:37I don't know what he wanted with us.
805. 24:39I'm happy that all the windows were
806. 24:40locked that night. That was always
807. 24:42something I never thought of until that
808. 24:44night. And now I make sure that all my
809. 24:46windows are locked unless I'm opening
810. 24:47them.
811. 24:48You never know who wants to get inside,
812. 24:50and leaving the window open can seem
813. 24:52[music] like an open invitation.
814. 25:06>> Yeah.