We can only hope not to run into anyone who could turn out to be a stalker or some other kind of creep. There are steps we can take to protect ourselves, naturally, but even the most careful people can find themselves in unsettling situations.
After Redditor AmpDragoness asked the online community, "What was the moment that you realized that someone was obsessed with you in an unhealthy way? What tipped you off?" people shared their stories. Some of these experiences are more unnerving than others.
Warning: Sensitive material ahead.
"I was bartending..."
Let me preface this with, I've never been a big social media user. It's too personal, too intrusive.
I was bartending at a local hole in the wall and I had a regular that was nice & flirty (typical bartender/customer stuff). One day he says to me "You were at John's* house Sunday morning. You guys a thing?" I asked him how he knew I was there & he said he saw my car. I was a little taken aback but I was parked on the main road & my car was fairly distinctive, so I didn't think much of it.
A couple weeks later he'd made a joke that I was never home, cos my car was always gone when he passed by. That made the hair on my neck stand up, but again I don't exactly live off of the beaten path, so ok. When I really 𝙠𝙣𝙚𝙬 that it was more than casual observations was when he started complimenting me on different outfits & hairstyles I wore on my days off or prior to my shift. He'd also make comments about receiving packages or coming home with after shopping ("You should find someone who would carry those groceries into the house for you. I'd never make you carry the bags in the house after all that shopping you did on Saturday.")
It was really creepy and I couldn't shake the feeling of being watched for a long time.
"When she started sending nudes..."
When she started sending nudes to my work email because I asked her to stop contacting me. I changed my snapchat account and blocked her number, but my work email is on my company's website, so she found it.
That was a awkward conversation with my IT guys.
"This guy at college..."
This guy at college would follow me EVERYWHERE. One day, I just went out to buy my lunch and he came with me. He didn't buy anything, just followed me. Even when I told him he was making me uncomfortable, he still would not leave me alone. I didn't wanna sound rude though.
Eventually, I started trying to get on the bus with me when I would head home. That was the last straw for me. The next time He tried to follow me onto the bus, and actually managed to step on, I pushed him off and urgently told the driver to close the doors. The driver instantly took the hint and shut them. I told him the guy was stalking me, showed my student ID which allowed me on the bus for free, and took a seat.
The next day, the guy had the audacity to ask me why I didn't let him come home with me. I told him to stop following me around from then on.
"I saw his vehicle parked out front..."
When my dad showed up to my place of work. We had been estranged, but he knew I worked at Starbucks and had traveled from location to location to figure out where I had transferred to and when my shifts were scheduled. Even had the balls to call the store and pretend to be me to get my schedule information. I saw his vehicle parked out front and freaked out and ran inside. He followed in after about thirty minutes (right as the morning rush was hitting full swing) and started berating me in front of all my coworkers and customers.
That's the day I went and learned about restraining orders.
"When I was stationed..."
When I was stationed in Korea and my ex girlfriend kept emailing my wife from different emails pretending to be women in Korea that I was cheating on her with. My wife and I had a pretty good laugh about it and she eventually came clean. Her husband was not happy about her still obsessing over me.
"As a bus driver..."
As a bus driver you're expected to be cheerful and chat with whoever while idle. A regular passenger started riding around, always in the front seat. Over a week or two the conversation got quite personal, always by her initiative. I told my supervisor about this just to cover my ass. Then she started to bring me gifts, cookies, candy beverages. Finally, she invited me over for a meal, so her mom could meet her boyfriend! I had zero interest in the young woman, didn't want anything to do with her. Luckily, she moved or just avoided the bus during my shift.
"When he started acting..."
When he started acting like he couldn't survive without me directly by his side at all times. I had met him a week earlier, only spoke to him briefly, and never flirted or had any romantic or sexual interactions with him.
He literally just stalked me and physically put himself at my side like a Siamese twin, going as far as pushing other people away from "his" spot, and threatening to kill himself when I brought it up with him. Yeah, nah thanks.
"My sister brought home..."
My sister brought home "my" spiral notebook from school. She thought it was mine because it had my name written and doodled covering every page. Turns out it was a girl who was obsessed with me.
"I was chatting with a gal online..."
I was chatting with a gal online through a dating site. She was nice enough and we were having good conversations, but had not yet even began speaking on the phone. It turns out a friend of hers was friends with one of my friends. Small world.
I'm at home one day puttering around and I hear a knock at my door, I look out the window and see a car I don't recognize. My hink meter starts pinging so I pull a butcher knife, brace my foot so the door can only open a bit and crack the door. She is standing there and tells me she got the address from my friend and asking to come in. I was weirded out and declined, she got upset and started crying and telling me how this was supposed to be a pleasant surprise. I tried to send her on her way gently and she got pissed and stormed off and drove away.
I thought that was it. Then she starts emailing me saying she loves me, then starts calling me, (my idiot friend gave her my number), and leaving gifts at my door that would be there in the morning.i lived in Mesa, AZ, she was in Tucson about an hour away. I eventually had to threaten her with a restraining order. My friend had talked to hers about what was going on she said, "Oh yeah, she's nuts, she's done this before."
I felt a lot better when I left the state.
"That week..."
Broke up with a boyfriend of three months. That week, I received thousands of texts from him ranging from "I love you, we can make this work" to "you fucking c*nt.". Don't know why it took three months to see the crazy, but I'm glad I eventually put it together.
Do you have something to confess to George? Text "Secrets" or "
" to +1 (310) 299-9390 to talk to him about it.
I can't definitively say I've come face to face with the spirits. But I have had some unsettling feelings in the dark. Shadows are just shadows sometimes, but who can be sure.
I hear it...
Nbc Wings GIF by HULUGiphy"I was helping my dad clean my grandma's house after she passed and I went in and was trying to find a song in my phone and before I could I heard a cough plain as day come from down the hallway where her room was. She died of lung and throat cancer it was pretty crazy."
Running Past...
"When I was 5 I remember getting home from my grandpa's birthday party. For context my mom was pregnant with my brother at the time, so my parents had already bought his crib. I woke up in the middle of the night to find a women in a white dress and long black hair standing over my brother's crib. I managed to wake up my dad so he could take me to the bathroom. When I got back it was still there. It was only until morning when it disappeared. Every now and then I see a glance of what I assume is that thing running past the backyard."
The Cat
"My best friend and his wife had moved to a new apartment. I came over to visit a few times, and each time I'd see the motion of a cat in my peripheral vision. Not the image of a cat, but a sense of how a cat moves. Anyway, one day I finally cracked some joke about the ghost cat in the place and his wife was instantly saying "See! See! I told you we had a ghost cat!"
"excuse me"
"I worked graveyard shift in a dementia ward for 4 years and it was anything but quiet. I was working with a nurse one night when we both heard a resident say "excuse me." We looked around and no-one was there. I checked on the resident in question and she was fast asleep in her own room. Many of us also experienced someone whistling in the ward late at night and one nurse even managed to catch a video of it happening. It was unnerving to say the least."
Clueless
Skeleton GIFGiphy"I once saw someone short walk by me in my house. They walked into the laundry room which only has one way in. I walked into it behind them and they where gone. I thought it was my little brother but I went to his room and he was asleep. I still have no clue what that was."
- ImBolio
Now was everyone here positive they were sober? Just asking. Those are certainly spooky moments. I'd like some video footage please. Continue...
Reflections
ghost library GIFGiphy"I was up at 3am when I was maybe 7 or 8. I looked out the window and saw a woman in a white dress run across my yard. I could see through her. She was transparent like the reflections on the window."
"you alright?"
"So, my work place is haunted. I was having a really crap day, and as a cleaner, it's normal that me and my co worker will be the only ones left at night. So I was standing on the second floor, leaning on the banister for the stair case, when I heard this male voice say in my ear "you alright?" Clear as day. I turned around so fast and nobody was there and it scared the hell out of me."
- Rex-the-
Watching Me
"I remember as a young kid I usually use to sit in my bed and watch tv with my room door open while the adjacent guest bedroom next to mine would always have the door shut. I always remember seeing that door fully open and close by itself multiple times a day very slowly and gently. Never really bothered me much now that I think about it… but there were other creepier experiences I had in the same house that made me feel uncomfortable like I was being watched."
Betsy
"I went to the Betsy Ross House as a really little kid in the early 90s. Normal house but I was confused why the tour guide never talked about the woman on the chair crying at the edge of the bed in Betsy Ross's bedroom. So I asked about it. No one else saw the woman at the edge of the bed. I figured it was just a wax museum since there was a wax statue of a man in uniform rolling bullets in the basement."
"Years later, I was looking at haunted Philadelphia tours to go on with a friend and the Betsy Ross House was on it. I was like "woah! I was there!" and looked into it some more. Turns out there is a woman at the end of the bed crying and a uniformed man in the basement that people have reported seeing. There is no way that 8 year old me would have known about either of these things."
hello kitty...
hello kitty lol GIF by Animation Domination High-DefGiphy"I had this hello kitty Balloon In my bed room, it had a string and weight on it. So it was late, I had the lights on just Sitting on my bed. The Balloon turns, faces my door, slowly floats into my hallway and turns and floats into my sister's room. To this day I am scared of balloons."
They are among us and they like Hello Kitty. I'm probably rattling the paranormal cages and they'll come for me next, but I'm ready. I feel like this thread has prepared me.
Boo!
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