Let's Not Meet: A True Horror Podcast - 7x19: Lost Stories 8 - Let's Not Meet

Episode Date: January 3, 2022

Stories in this episode:  -Window Creeper - blahblahxo.  -Followed Me Home From The Movie Theater - AmieLucy.  -The Neighbor Kid Is A Psycho - CharlieAintHere.  -My Stalker Disappeared After Thre...e Horrifying Years - hollipopp_.  -Asleep When A Stranger Enters The Room - amgglitterfinger.  -A Train Journey From Hell - Anonymous.  -I Accepted A Ride From Someone Who Was Not My Father - UnfairAdvantage.  -Grindr Stalker - BritishDweeb96.  -My Dogs Might Have Saved My Life And Their Home - emmboo.  -How Being Born Put My Life In Danger - twilighttealeaves.  Extended Patreon Content:  -My Dad's Ex-Girlfriend - Sami.  -The Truck That Trapped Me - Hannah.  -Computer Repair Man - Naomi.  All of the stories you've heard this week were narrated and produced with the permission of their respective authors. Let's Not Meet: A True Horror Podcast is not associated with Reddit or any other message boards online. To submit your story to the show, send it to letsnotmeetstories@gmail.com. Get access to extended, ad-free episodes of Let's Not Meet: A True Horror Podcast with bonus stories every week along with a bunch of other great exclusive material and merch at patreon.com/letsnotmeetpodcast. This podcast would not be possible to continue at this rate without the help of the support of the legendary LNM Patrons. Come join the family!  Make the switch to PrettyLitter TODAY! Get 20% off your first order by visiting Prettylitter.com and use promo code MEET. This podcast is sponsored by BetterHelp and my listeners get 10% off their first month at betterhelp.com/MEET. Stop wasting time going to the Post office and go to Stamps.com instead. There’s NO risk. And with my promo code, MEET, you get a special offer that includes a 4-week trial PLUS free postage and a digital scale. No long-term commitments or contracts. Just go to Stamps.com, click on the Microphone at the TOP of the homepage and type in MEET today!  - Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/groups/433173970399259/ - Twitter - https://twitter.com/letsnotmeetcast - Website - https://letsnotmeetpodcast.com - Patreon - https://patreon.com/letsnotmeetpodcast - Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/letsnotmeetcast/ - Twitch - https://twitch.tv/andrewtatelive

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Starting point is 00:00:00 Amplify your career through training and development solutions specifically designed for federal government professionals. From courses to help you attain or retain certification to individualized coaching services, to programs at home, your leadership skills, and business acumen. Management concepts optimizes your professional development. Online in-person, individually, or groups. It's training that's measurably better. Learn more at managementconcepts.com. That's managementconcepts.com. My name is Andrew Tate and this is season 7 episode 19 of Let's Not Meet the True Horror Podcast. I know that some of you might be a bit surprised at the back-to-back lost stories. I normally like to space these out and do one every couple of months.
Starting point is 00:01:23 However, you may actually hear a bit of it in my voice still, but on Christmas Eve I was hit with a pretty gnarly cold. Not the worst cold I've ever had, but it's definitely been the longest cold I've ever had to deal with. I'm pretty sure it's on its last leg though, and no, I've confirmed it's nothing more than the common cold. I usually get sick once every couple of years, and I've been well over due for a bad one. Needless to say, my voice wasn't up to par for a new episode this week. But being locked in my room left me with plenty of time to put together what might be my favorite Lost Stories collection yet.
Starting point is 00:02:02 This episode features two stories originally recorded by an old friend of the show, Sarah Aubrey, a very talented and successful voice actor out of Australia. I believe these were recorded sometime back in 2017 or 2018. As long as I'm not hit with another unfortunate circumstance, we will be back to our regularly scheduled programming next week with a brand new episode. For now, though, enjoy some more ancient creeps with the Lost Stories, Part 8. This happened recently, unfortunately. About a week ago, I was home alone throughout the night. My boyfriend went to work and I just couldn't sleep. I was up until about 3am, which isn't unusual for me. I was sitting in my bedroom and my dog
Starting point is 00:03:05 was downstairs in her crate to stop her from terrorizing my cat, who was asleep in the spare bedroom. Anyways, I was sitting there watching YouTube and TV and riding on a novel, and I kept hearing things go bump in the night. A chain rattle, which I thought was weird, but figured it was just the neighbor's
Starting point is 00:03:27 fence. I didn't think it was my fence. Things moving in the backyard. Like raccoons, maybe. Anyways, despite me explaining things away in my head, I still got up with my pistol at my hip and looked out all of the windows and didn't see anything of concern. I had just went through the house and checked all of the angles again and sat back down to try and call my nerves. Then my not so normally vocal dog barked quickly and growled. That's when I started thinking that there really was someone in my yard. See the thing is her pin is facing the bay window that leaves into the backyard. They would have to be standing on something for them to
Starting point is 00:04:18 see her or for her to see them. Someone had to have been peaking in my window. I was shaking, tired and absolutely terrified, but when I went downstairs to let my 95-pound pup into the yard, I was towing my pistol at my hip. I still was thinking that there was no way someone could be in my yard. I felt like I was over reacting. I let my pup out the door and she instantly started crouching, hair on the back of her neck standing straight up, and a low growl as she crept around the side of the house towards that damned window. I have never seen her like this and told her to go pee and immediately call her into the house when she was finished.
Starting point is 00:05:05 The next morning I wake up, my boyfriend's home, and I start babbling about how I thought someone was in the yard last night. Just talking about it was making me anxious, and he thought I was overreacting, as I'm scared of the dark anyways. He basically dismissed it as a possum or raccoon. I was starting to think I was going crazy, or had just been sleep deprived. We took our pup into the yard to play like usual. We were running around at the yard goofing off. My boyfriend is standing at a house smoking a cigarette and pacing around as he goes over to the window. I'm kind of watching him now and he tells me to come over to
Starting point is 00:05:48 where he is. My heart sank as he says, yeah, I believe you. He points to the window and right on the sill on the outside there is distinct grip marks where someone balanced themselves to look through the rip in the curtains to our living room. I still want to vomit thinking about someone looking into my house, especially as there have been probably 16 break-ins in our neighborhood alone in a couple months or less. Window creeper that surely would have been eaten, but my abnormally large dog. Please do not come back. I really don't want to meet you.
Starting point is 00:06:44 Back in high school, my friends and I would love to go to our local movie theatre that was situated inside of our shopping mall. We usually traveled in big groups, but this time it was only my friend Alex and I. We picked up a late night's showing of some obscure movie. I can't recall the name because this happened years ago. We arrived on time to find our seats. Since the showing was late and the movie wasn't a box-off as hit, the theater was empty. We situated ourselves in the middle where we could get a perfect view of the screen.
Starting point is 00:07:20 Strangely enough, a couple that arrived late decided to sit in our row with only two seats between us and them. My friend and I exchanged confused looks and then shrugged it off, figuring it was solely because we had prime viewing seats. As the theater got dark, things got a little weird. The woman of the pair kept looking over at us every few minutes. The first few times I figured she was just a nervous person and adjusting to her surroundings. Yet, maybe in an hour into the movie, she kept up the pattern. She wasn't even discreet with her staring because she'd turn her head
Starting point is 00:08:07 completely towards us. I could see her entire face. I still see it in my head today. I nudged my friend and told him about the girl staring, and he whispered that he had noticed, too. At this point I was feeling very anxious, and almost wanted to leave the movie early. My friend didn't want to, though, so I decided staying with him was safer than leaving alone. And I was his right home, too. Throughout the movie, the girl continued to look over. Every now and then she'd whisper something to her counterpart. But he never looked over. Once the movie ended, I grabbed my friend by the arm and told him that we should get
Starting point is 00:08:57 going because it's late. He followed Sue as I sprinted out of the theater. Once we were out, the halls were empty because of the fact that barely any film placed towards the end of the night. I was about to say something to my friend about how the couple next to us freaked me out, but they ran out of the door seconds after us. I was freaking out inside, but I decided to try my best to keep my composure. My friend was definitely aware of them following closely as we walked out of the movie theater, but he isn't the type to be confrontational, so
Starting point is 00:09:35 we just bedwalked to my car. Once we got in the car, my intuition told me just to get out of the parking garage as fast as I could. I saw the weird couple make it to their blue car which was on the same parking garage level as us. That wasn't surprising because the entrance to the mall is on that level so everyone parks there. I sped out of the parking garage and drove towards the main street. I told him to keep a lookout and see if their blue car was following us. He looked back and said the coast was clear. I felt relieved.
Starting point is 00:10:15 Now, we were the only ones on the main highway because it was late at night and we live in a quiet suburban area. Then, a few minutes later, a car came speeding up from behind and flashed their high beams at me. My heart started to race, my head just told me it was them. I asked Alex if the car was blue and he said he couldn't tell. The light to turn left onto the next main street was green, so I took the left turn necessary to get to his neighborhood.
Starting point is 00:10:46 The car backed off and turned on normal lights, but still turned left just like us. I got a glimpse of the car and started yelling once I realized that it was the weird couples blue car. Alex told me to gun it, so I slammed on the gas and sped down the main street before I had to turn into his neighborhood. The blue car wasn't tailgating me, but was clearly following not too far behind. When the streets are empty, it's easy to follow someone since there aren't any cars to dodge. I turned into my friend's neighborhood but decided to drive past his street so that they wouldn't see where we were trying to go.
Starting point is 00:11:28 The blue car followed us into the quiet neighborhood and was picking up speed to get closer to us. My friend Alex was panicking and asking what I'm going to do. I just kept quiet as I sped too quickly down a random neighborhood street. I could see the cars lights behind me as I made my turn onto another street, but they were far enough so that they couldn't see me for about 30 seconds after I took that turn. After I turned onto another unfamiliar street, I turned off my car and put it into neutral. My car is a manual, so I'm very familiar with driving it and knew I had
Starting point is 00:12:06 enough momentum to roll into an empty parking spot, even though my car was off. I slipped into the spot on the curb and pushed the brakes to get to a stop before the blue car could clear the turn to get onto the street. I reclined my seat back completely and told Alex to lean all the way forward and not to move. We sat there in the silent and dark car. My ears ringing from how quiet it was. My heartbeat was fluttering faster than it ever had before. I think it was a mix of fear and adrenaline. Within a few seconds, the blue car cleared the turn and slowly started driving down the street. It made its way past my car that was parked on the side of the street, and luckily for us, I drive a standard black sion.
Starting point is 00:13:05 There is nothing notable about my car. I haven't even changed the license plates frame. So they must have figured that the cars parked on the road belong to the people that lived in the neighborhood. Alex and I literally stayed in our hiding positions for 10 minutes, just in case the weird couple decided to drive by again. Luckily, they never did. Once we got up, we just stared at each other and really didn't know what to say.
Starting point is 00:13:35 We were both freaked out and had no idea of what the couple had planned to do if they had caught up to us. To this day, I still don't know what their intentions were. Maybe they were just a couple of devians who enjoy freaking out young high school students. Or maybe they had a more sinister plan for us. All I know is that I don't go to the theater late at night Cooper friends. You know it, your wife knows it, your friends know it. Yep, there's no getting away from the fact that there's an outdoor kitchen shaped hole in your life.
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Starting point is 00:15:10 It smells like clean, freshly picked lemons. So no matter what's inside your trash, you can stop the stink and smell the lemon. 13 to 14 years ago when I was around 12 or 13, my family had a gathering at my grandmother's house, which we did every so often back then. My brother, cousin, both boys and I, a girl, were playing in an inflatable pool in the backyard. The neighbor kid, probably my brother's age, about 15 or 16, climbed his fence so he could talk to us. We were having fun joking and chatting with him, so we asked if he'd like to join us. My grandma gave me the okay and he came over to partake in the festivities.
Starting point is 00:15:56 Everything was great until my cousins and brother went inside to help with something. I got nervous when they left, but I'm socially an anxious person who is especially nervous around guys, so I pushed to decide. Suddenly, the cool kid from next door became a jerk. He started hurling insults at me while grinning. I figured he was just playing around so I did it back. We started splashing each other, but then he got super aggressive. He was splashing me so much, I kept taking in water, turned my head away and told him to slow down, still kind of laughing.
Starting point is 00:16:44 When he didn't stop, I got serious and told him to knock it off. He stopped. I was clearing my eyes of water when he grabbed the bucket, and he filled it with water and put the bucket on my head. I went to take it off, but he shoved me down. I got the bucket off and asked what is wrong with him. He just grabbed me and shoved my head underwater. I was flailing, searching for his face to scratch or hit, but the angle he was at made it impossible. I got dangerously close to passing out when he was pulled off of me. I came up grasping for air and my brother pulled me behind him and asked the kid what the hell was going on and what he was doing.
Starting point is 00:17:31 The little douche snickered and said we were just playing. My brother stepped forward and asked how trying to drown me is playing. The kid kept smirking and my brother told him he needs to stay away from us. The kid scoffed and angerly said, you guys are boring anyway, and was escorted out by my sibling. We never said anything to the adults for reasons I can't understand, but the kid kept taunting us kid kept taunting us, his backyard. He even brought one of his friends to Makas and insult us, which resulted in us telling our family so that stopped real quick. Shortly after that, the family moved and we never dealt with him again.
Starting point is 00:18:17 I'm very grateful for my brother who essentially raised me. He's helped me in more ways than I can count. I don't know where I'd be without him. When I was 15 years old, I lived in a rural area about 20 minutes outside of the actual town I called home. I was home from school alone one day, and a white car pulled up in front of our mailbox and stopped. I was upstairs in my room and softened the window, but I couldn't see who was in the car.
Starting point is 00:18:58 Whoever it was sat there for several minutes without getting out of the vehicle, long enough to weird me out, and then drove away. We were not super close in distance to our neighbors, but we weren't miles and miles apart, and I remembered that one neighbor a bit down was selling their house. I chalked it up to a potential buyer having the wrong address or simply checking out the neighborhood and thought nothing else of it. Fast forward about a week or so.
Starting point is 00:19:27 It was Friday night and I had gone downtown to see the premiere of a movie with my boyfriend at the time. I remember it was a special occasion and I had begged my parents consistently for weeks to push back my curfew so I could see this movie. Since it wouldn't be over until after 1am and it took 20 minutes to get home from town, they were reluctant but finally agreed. When the movie was over, my boyfriend Jason and I walked slowly to the truck. It was a well lit and relatively safe area, so we stood around in the parking deck trying
Starting point is 00:20:04 to push curfew for as long as possible. There weren't many vehicles at that time of night, but I realized suddenly that I recognized the one parked straight across from us, that same white car that had been at my house a week earlier. The car was running, and there was a man, maybe mid-30s, sitting alone inside. I could have passed all of this off as a coincidence, except as I continued to look at him, he turned his bright lights on us and spun out of the parking deck after
Starting point is 00:20:42 almost running into Jason's truck. I obviously had a horrible feeling about this and asked Jason if he would take me home immediately. As we pulled out of the garage, we saw the car parked across the street from the movie theater, all the lights off, man still inside, but he didn't follow us so we just went home a little shaken. I had no idea at that moment this was the start of three long and torturous years of being stalked by this man. A couple of months after the parking deck situation, the encounters became more frequent and weirder, and I hated being anywhere alone at any time. I never knew when or where I would see him or how much time would have passed between encounters. It all became clear that he was watching me all the time by this point because he only made himself known when I
Starting point is 00:21:40 was alone or with my boyfriend, never my parents, or even any other friends. I became terrified for some stupid reason that none of my friends would believe me if I told them so I kept it between Jason and my family. Until one day, my friend Rachel, who lived maybe five minutes away from me, started telling me about this creepy man who showed up at her house over the weekend. Rachel's dad worked Sundays so she was home alone with another friend of ours, Megan. Everything was normal until around dusk when they began to smell cigarette smoke. My heart instantly began racing because by this time this was becoming an everyday occurrence
Starting point is 00:22:24 for me. I was smelling cigarette smoke, finding cigarette butts around my house, even though I noted my family smoked, and could never trace a source. I had a nagging feeling of course that it was connected to my stalker, but hadn't confirmed it. So as Rachel and Megan were looking for the source of the smoke, Rachel realized she had left a window in the back room open and the smoke was coming in from their back porch. Seeing that there was a strange man on her porch, she quickly goes to close and lock the window. And in her words, he turns around with dead eyes and looks straight
Starting point is 00:23:07 through her. Like, she wasn't really there. Megan immediately called the police, but Rachel continued to stand there. And a little bit of shock is he smirked at her and stared until his cigarette was done, then got up and calmly walked away. The police came but found no trace of him except for cigarette butts on the porch and scattered around in the backyard, indicating that he had been there for some time. I immediately began to describe the creep to Rachel and it was the same man. She hadn't seen or heard the white car at all, and they guessed that he had parked down the road and just walked down Rachel's almost mile long driveway or through the woods a bit. As time went on, my stories were well documented with the police
Starting point is 00:24:05 department, but they had never seen the guy. He was just so good at getting away. I have to give them credit because they never doubted the truth in my stories, and always showed up quickly, even as it was becoming apparent that this guy knew what he was doing and wasn't planning on being caught anytime soon. We also began to suspect he had a police scanner in his car. One night in particular, almost two years after the Rachel incident, Jason and I were coming home a little early from a date. My parents had gone out as well that night, and we had a strict rule that we couldn't be
Starting point is 00:24:44 home alone with no adults. So Jason and I began to talk in the driveway since my dad had called, and they were only about ten minutes away. We were too scared, given the circumstances, to get out of the truck, and we kept our eyes peeled for the creep, but we figured ten minutes wasn't all that long. Sure as the world, not even a minute later, we saw headlights turn on in the bush across the street from my driveway. This freak had backed his car into the
Starting point is 00:25:13 bushes and waited for us to come home. Jason immediately got on the phone and called the cops, and I had called my dad who was literally flying home at this point, as the man revved up his engine and flashed his lights. He then proceeded to get out of his car and walked towards Jason's truck. I will never forget he was so slow and methodical and emotionless. It felt like I was living out a serial killer movie. I was sobbing. We had the doors locked, of course, as the man walked up
Starting point is 00:25:48 to the passenger's side where I was sitting and stood only a couple feet away from my window, staring at me. He never made a move for the door. He simply stood completely still and stared. He held eye contact with me, with his eyes like black holes. Jason was a baseball player and had been keeping a bat in the backseat exactly for a moment like this. He pulled me toward him and away from the window and grabbed the
Starting point is 00:26:21 bat, but this man didn't even flinch. He switched his gaze to the bat for a few seconds. Smiled this huge disgusting grin, walked back to his car and drove away. It seemed like 40 minutes passed, but it could have been more like five, because the man was gone for a couple of minutes before my dad came into our driveway doing about 80 miles per hour. The cops never caught up to him. There were many more stories of torture such as leaving dead animals outside on our front door and shining flashlights into our windows in the middle of the night, but nothing anyone did could trip this guy up. My family had tried everything.
Starting point is 00:27:14 My older brother even desperately tried to chase the guy through the woods behind our house one night and just lost him. The police wanted to help, but they only had my stories and the corroboration of my boyfriend, Rachel's encounter, and one kind of vague sighting of the car in town. I didn't even have a name for anyone to file a restraining order against. Not that it would have done me any good, and maybe the creepiest part of all of this in the whole three years was that he never spoke a single word. Then one day, just as quickly as he showed up, every single trace of him completely disappeared, just like that. And never knew if he died, was arrested for some of the crime or just lost interest, even though that seemed
Starting point is 00:28:05 highly unlikely. I just simply never saw him again, and it has now been ten years. Creeps come in all shapes and forms, and many times do not look like what you see in the movies. They can seem completely normal on the outside. However, this man's behavior was exactly like something you'd see from a horror film. Something in his eyes was so evil it would turn your stomach. Over the course of three years he made my life extremely stressful and terrifying and even now that I live in a different state, I sometimes halfway expect him to show
Starting point is 00:28:45 up again. I still occasionally feel the lasting effects of that time, but thankfully life has become pretty normal again. Needless to say, disturbed stalker who made me miserable for years, let's not meet. So this happened the last night. My boyfriend and I live in an apartment building that is located in an alleyway behind a busy stretch of street with bars. It is not uncommon for people to be out panhandling or stumbling drunk late at night.
Starting point is 00:29:36 We actually had a few whiskey and coax at the bar close by and had walked home. I fell asleep naked in my bed because I had to work early in the morning. My boyfriend figured we could do some gatorades in the morning to pair us for our work shifts, so he left to go right across the street to the convenience store. He made a mistake by leaving the door unlocked, but figured he'd begun for just a few minutes, and the store closed in five minutes anyway. Walking to the store, he says, a man asked him for money. Happens all the time.
Starting point is 00:30:12 But this particular man gave my boyfriend a weird feeling. The only thing I remember is my boyfriend shaking me awake and saying, are you okay? Are you okay? I was confused. I told him, yes, he says, there was a man in this room. I thought he was joking at first, but he goes on to tell me that when he got back from the store,
Starting point is 00:30:38 our apartment door was wide open. He knew something messed up was going on, and he enters the apartment into our wide open. He knew something messed up was going on and he enters the apartment into our living room. This strange man that he saw outside walks out of the room that I was asleep in. My boyfriend puts up his hands and tells the man that we are poor and we don't have anything so it might be best if he just leaves. The man replies saying, in this deep, slow voice, I was just looking for my little mouse. I was looking for my dog, my little mouse. Let me know if you find him and walks out. At that point, my boyfriend makes sure he's gone, locks the door, and goes to wake me up.
Starting point is 00:31:29 The guy stole my boyfriend's phone and rummaged through my purse. He didn't steal my phone because I was asleep with it under me to hear my alarm for work. All of our lights were on. The car was in the driveway, so creepy man on drugs trying to find his little mouse. Let's not meet. This is the smell of a warm three-day old egg-solid sandwich in a wimpy trash bag. Wimpy, wimpy, wimpy! And this is the smell of that same sandwich in a hefty ultra-strong trash bag with new Fabulouso
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Starting point is 00:33:00 Visit AT&T.com slash Hypergig for details. This happened back in 2016. I was 18 and I was planning on visiting my girlfriend. We lived in different cities in the UK so I decided to get a train and visit her for the weekend. The train I caught was slightly earlier than I had booked but some UK trains have the option of more flexible times as long as it is an at rush hour. It was 5am in winter. It was cold, dark, and miserable, and I had just stepped on the platform to wait for it to pull up to the station. When a roughly 60-year-old man came and stood next to me.
Starting point is 00:33:41 By next to me, I mean he was literally less than 20 centimeters away, and practically leaning on me despite almost no one else being around. So it's not like the area was that cramped. He was balding, wore thick, rimmed glasses with incredibly strong prescriptions by the looks of it. He was significantly taller than me. I'd say he was close to six foot six, but slim and gaunt, with coarse, graying skin and had an unusually wide mouth and a scraggly beard that looked like it needed a trim. He was dressed in a black baggy hoodie that was pulled up over his head and wore fatigued jeans that looked as if they were close to falling apart at any moment. I stepped away, trying to politely put some distance between us,
Starting point is 00:34:31 and fortunately he didn't follow me any further. The train pulled up, and I stepped onto the carriage, found a seat, and for reference, I sat on the left side of the train next to the window. Then I put my headphones in and tried to nap for the duration of my three-hour journey. The train was mostly empty. A few tired workers slumped in the corner, sleeping off the work from the night before and a couple of old women chatted, quietly, between themselves. The journey was mostly painless, and I had forgotten about the old man, and I couldn't see him in either my carriage or the ones adjacent, so I paid the thought
Starting point is 00:35:10 of him little attention. It was about an hour into the journey when the train went through a short tunnel. It couldn't have been in there for more than 20 seconds, but I felt a strong hand grabbed my right leg. I jerked out of my days to half asleep state only to find that as the train exited the darkness, the old man was sat directly next to me, still grasping my leg hard enough that it would later leave a light bruise along my thigh. I pulled my leg away, and quickly asked him what he thought he was doing. I'm not an intimidating person, a pretty fat teenager that barely reaches 5-8 is never going to be a scary sight, but I put on my most confident voice and repeated
Starting point is 00:35:59 my question. Though this time it was louder and contained a few choice words for the odd man. I had barely managed to finish the question before he grabbed my face with his hand and slammed my head against the window so that I was pinned in place. Despite my struggles, he easily held me in place and leaned in until he was only inches from my squished up face. With a deep, baritone voice that seemed to echo around in my brain, he whispered directly into my ear, something similar to, you would be a very nice plaything. And then he said my name.
Starting point is 00:36:45 I apologize that I can't remember the exact words. The adrenaline that had me freaking out made it difficult to concentrate on things like that. But I vividly remember he knew my name. He then licked the exposed side of my face slowly until a bridge above the tracks blocked what little light was trickling into the carriage. As the light dimmed, I felt the hand release my face and I snapped to look at where the man had been sad, but he had already disappeared from view. I rose shakily from
Starting point is 00:37:20 my seat and rushed to the toilet devommet from the fear. I stayed in there for over an hour before an inspector knocked on the door to check my ticket. I informed him what had happened and he escorted me to the police officers at the next station who swept the train, the entire train, and did not find the man. It was treated as an assault, so the police viewed the CCTV from the train, but were unable to identify the old guy. I nearly broke down into a panic attack, when they said that they couldn't find him, but that wasn't the worst part. When the police later viewed the CCTV that covered the route, I took to reach the train station, they stated that the same tall,
Starting point is 00:38:05 black-hooded man could be seen following me for almost two miles, starting from just outside of my house. To this day I refused to return to that city. I moved away about two months later. It have made a promise to myself that I will never ride a train again. About 25 years ago when I was in middle school, seventh grade, I had a real bad problem with bullies. I couldn't handle the ridiculing I took while riding the school bus, so I started walking three miles to and from school every day. The path I walked was pretty safe, mostly on a sidewalk, and always on a busy road, with the last 2.5 miles being a straight shot directly to the school. Back then, there
Starting point is 00:39:01 wasn't a stigma attached to kids being outside on their own, so this wasn't deemed unsafe, or noticed by anyone. Also I thought, I lived alone with my father, parents being divorced, and my mother saw me on weekends. He didn't see any harm in the walking, and my mother wasn't aware of the bullying or the walking. I didn't want her to know, so I continued unimpeded for over half the school year. Now, I wasn't really an active kid, and I sure didn't like having to walk six miles every school day, so I assumed this was the motivation for the error I was about to make. One day, on the way home, a car pulled up on the shoulder and stopped, about a hundred feet ahead of me.
Starting point is 00:39:43 That car looks familiar. Hey, it's my father. He's going to drive me the rest of the way! Woohoo! I started to jog up to the car, seeing him in the driver's seat, waiting patiently. It's hair looks darker at the normal today. Isn't the inside of his car 10 not red? The thought's left as soon as they entered, and I caught up to the car, opened as soon as they entered, and I caught up to the car, opened the passenger's side door, and started to get in. As I was tossing my backpack on the floor in front of me, and swinging my legs into the car, I started
Starting point is 00:40:14 saying, thanks dad, but the sentence never completed. Before I knew it, I'd shut the car door, and we began to move. This isn't my father. This man was much older, by at least 20 years. Hair obviously died black, and hands propped at 10 and 2 on the steering wheel. The shirt he was wearing looked just like one my father would have worn, a short-sleeved, collared button down, brick red with black horizontal lines, not pressed, but not too wrinkled, either. He was smiling at me, which probably would have felt warm if it was coming from my grandfather, but instead felt menacing. I heard a click and looked over at the door,
Starting point is 00:40:58 which had just been locked. I stared at the door for a moment longer, then turned and faced front and completely froze, terrified. What do I do now? Hello? I saw you walking. I figured I'd come give you a lift. I did not move or answer. Don't act scared.
Starting point is 00:41:24 Just act normal. His voice matched his smile, deceivingly friendly. We were roughly a mile from home and half a mile from the next turn needed to head in that direction. All I could concentrate on is how I was going to get out of this situation. Stay calm. Stay calm. Don't act scared. Are you on your way home? This snapped me a little out of my zone. Home, home, yes, I want to go home, I answered, yes, stay calm. Talk normally, don't act scared.
Starting point is 00:42:00 Where is your house? I can take you there. Feeling slightly relieved. I told him to take the next right turn. I felt myself begin to breathe and I realised how tense I had been. My body relaxed slightly and I finally moved and wrapped my hands around my backpack straps. See? Things are fine. You are fine. Keep calm and you'll get home. Just don't act scared. We started to come up on the intersection and I pointed ahead, reiterating that this was my turn.
Starting point is 00:42:33 Okay, but if you want, we could take a ride instead. It sounded like a question, but it didn't feel like one. The dotted line for the turn lane had begun, but he did not get over. Instantly, I tensed back up, and my grip and my gaze on my backpack tightened. Don't ask ahead, don't ask ahead. Through strained muscles I choked out that, no, no, I really need to get home. I really need to get home. He swung the car into the turn lane and began to make the turn.
Starting point is 00:43:13 Why died? I glanced up and verified that, yes indeed, we were making the turn. Okay. Okay. See? Everything's going to be fine. He's taking you home. Are you sure? I'll make sure you get home before anyone realizes you're gone. Stay calm. Don't act scared. Grip tightening further. I abruptly stated that no. I need to get home now. My father
Starting point is 00:43:41 is expecting me home now. He's waiting. I just hoped it sounded more convincing than it sounded to me. We completed the turn. Okay, maybe next time. We can meet at the same place tomorrow. Sure, yes, yes, tomorrow. Tomorrow is good. I just need to get home today now. Maybe it actually was convincing. My eyes were firmly trained on the road ahead of us, hoping that if I just focused on the direction to home, I would get there. The turn into my neighborhood was approaching and I informed him again pointing towards the direction. The direction home. The next few moments were silent, even if it was loud in my head. Act normal, go next scared.
Starting point is 00:44:29 It'll be okay. Everything will be okay. Just don't act scared. Things will be fine. Just be normal. As we came upon the turn, I reminded him, and to my slight surprise and incredible relief, he made the turn. It's okay, it's okay. Everything's gonna be okay.
Starting point is 00:44:52 For the first time, I had more hope than doubt. Oh, oh no. He can't know where I live. What should I... You know, it's probably not a good idea that I drop you off right at your house. Your dad might see me and get mad that I gave you a right home, and then we wouldn't be able to meet tomorrow. I was able to appreciate the good fortune of my silent question being answered for me.
Starting point is 00:45:20 My old neighborhood consisted of mainly apartments, but in the back were a block of townhouses, which is where I lived. If you are unaware of the layout of the complex, the townhouses might go unnoticed. Right before we got to the area where I lived, I told him, here, stop here. He pulled over to the side of the road, in front of an apartment building. He unlocked the door, and I hurried out of the car, backpack still in hand. I began to close the door behind me. See you here. Tomorrow. Same time. I paused for just a second and risked another look at him. Still smiling. Still terrifying. Yes. Tomorrow. See you later.
Starting point is 00:46:06 I finish closing the door and hurried off. Don't run. Don't run. Don't ex-gared. Don't run. I swung my backpack on the right way and briskly walked in the opposite direction of my house. I could hear the car still idling behind me, and it wasn't until I was able to turn off that road and leave his view that I heard him start to move. He had to drive up to where I was walking to turn around, and I glanced
Starting point is 00:46:35 back as he was making an awkward turn instead of going around the block to leave. He caught my gaze and gave a slight wave before driving off. My hand was in the reluctant process of waving bag, but I was slow enough that he was gone before I completed the motion. I turned my head and kept walking, and the moment I could no longer hear his car. I ran as fast as my pudgy legs and heavy backpack would let me. I ran around to where I could hide between two buildings and hid there for a while until I felt enough time had passed for me to feel confident he was not driving around waiting, looking for me. It was probably 30 minutes, but it felt like hours to me at the time. I ran the rest of the way home, keeping a lookout, making sure he couldn't see me going
Starting point is 00:47:28 through the back yards. I reached my front door, unlocked it, and almost spilled inside I was moving so fast. It wasn't until I locked the door behind me that I felt safe. I didn't feel scared anymore. I was home. And I couldn't believe it. In the end, I told my parents and my mother forced my father to drive and pick me up from school for the remainder of the school year, and luckily for me, the bullying stopped
Starting point is 00:47:57 the next year. My father didn't believe me, and thought I made up the whole story to get out of walking to school. In his defense, Mead trying to explain that, no, the car was exactly like yours, except the entire color of the inside, and no, he did look like you, but with darker hair and it all happened so fast, and… well, it didn't matter. It was worth this disbelief and annoyance every day in the car, so I never had to make that guy again. About three years ago when I was 18 or so, I used Grindr and someone messaged me.
Starting point is 00:48:52 For convenience, this lovely gentleman I shall refer to as Robert. So we started talking and we asked how we were and what we were up to, the usual conversation starters. Shortly after beginning the conversation, Robert begins to sound rather depressing, the moaning about his insecurities and how everyone hates him, occasionally talking about how he should just kill himself. So being the nice person that I am, I try finding something about him that I could compliment him on. I try to make him feel better, that sort of thing, or bring a smile at least. And that's where things begin to get heavy.
Starting point is 00:49:36 Robert began deflecting my compliments, calling me a liar, or a user, or saying, I'm just trying to make fun of him. I try my best to reassure him that my compliments were genuine because I hate seeing people depressed or down. It's just in my nature to bring joy to people. Now, I have been in his shoes before with the severe insecurity thing, so I know exactly how he felt. After he finally began to believe that my compliments were real, he began to get very attached to me, starting to send me over 20 messages at once. And if I didn't reply within five seconds,
Starting point is 00:50:14 he'd start to say things like, oh, I guess you found someone better to talk to then. You're like all the rest. And to begin to get frustrating at this point. Now, I could have just blocked him and saved me the rest, and to begin to get frustrating at this point. Now I could have just blocked him and saved me the headache, but I have anxiety and I feared that he'd turn up at my door someday or do something drastic if I did block him. He also tried sending me nudes to grab my attention when I didn't reply literally instantly to his messages, and it got worse and worse from here.
Starting point is 00:50:46 Eventually, he told me he'd be in my town over the weekend and begin to get very pushy about meeting up somewhere and doing abject things. When I didn't reply, he flips out and started finding me on different social medias to keep tabs on me, Facebook messages, friend requests, Instagram, etc. I went on a night out with some friends of mine. At the time, forgetting he was in town over the weekend,
Starting point is 00:51:15 and he saw me walking down the street and ran up to me. Balling his eyes out, about me trying to avoid him, and he began begging for my phone number and house address and whether he could join us on our night out and when we politely refused He followed us further and tried forcing drinks into my hand when we got to the bar Infuriated by how clingy he was being I Went home just to realize he boarded at the same bus as me and followed me back to my place before he finally disappeared. He started messaging me
Starting point is 00:51:56 on Grindr about visiting me at home sometime or trying to find my friends to get my phone number. I finally snapped at this point. And I blocked him and I thought that that was that. Only to discover the next day he was trying to catfish me with my own pictures to try and get my attention and screaming to know why I blocked him. At this point, things got way too heavy and I deleted grinder from my phone, changed my phone number and moved house just to blocked him. At this point, things got way too heavy and I deleted grinder from my phone, changed
Starting point is 00:52:26 my phone number, and moved house just to avoid him. This whole experience, as really put me off to dating people with severe insecurities, out of fear that something like this will occur again, and I've been trying to go against my nature to avoid complimenting people too much to avoid something like this happening again. Three years later, I haven't seen him. So Robert, let's not meet. 18T Fiber presents A Straight Forward Moment You're wine?
Starting point is 00:53:09 Thanks. I'll pretend I know what I'm doing before saying it's good. And I'll pretend I don't know you're pretending. Are you a Gigillionaire? Yeah, I have 18T Fiber. The straightforward pricing has inspired me to be more straightforward. Me too. Ugh, this wine.
Starting point is 00:53:24 I'll fetch you a better one. Straight forward is better. No equipment fees, no data caps, no price increase at 12 months. Live like a Gagillionaire with AT&T fiber. Limited availability in select areas. Visit AT&T.com slash Hypergate for details. AT&T fiber presents a straightforward moment.
Starting point is 00:53:38 Your wine? Thanks. I'll pretend I know what I'm doing before saying it's good. And I'll pretend I don't know you're pretending. Are you a Gagillionaire? Yeah, I have AT&T Fiber. The straightforward pricing has inspired me to be more straightforward. Me too.
Starting point is 00:53:53 Ugh, this one. I'll fetch you a better one. Straight forward is better. No equipment fees, no data caps, no price increase at 12 months. Live like a Gagillionaire with AT&T Fiber. Limited availability in select areas. Visit AT&T.com slash Hypergate for details. I was having dinner with a Tinder date this evening, and somehow we ended up sharing scary
Starting point is 00:54:10 stories of things that have happened to us. I told him a couple of mine, and he told me, I should put this one specifically on here, so here I am, sharing this with you as well. First off, I was 17 when this happened in 2016, and I am a girl for context. My house is laid out kind of funny. To get to the front door, you have to walk down the drive at the side of the house, and to get to the back door, you have to go through a seven-foot gate. It's pretty obvious which door is the front door, though, which makes this experience even creepier. I have two dogs, a border collie called Daphne, and a
Starting point is 00:54:46 little rescue Sprolli slash lab mix called Dolly. These dogs are my pride and joy. So, when my parents suggested leaving them with a sitter so we could all go visit my brother in America, I said no. I didn't want to trust someone else with my dogs and, to be honest, as cool as a trip to America sounds, it was a long trip just to stay with my brother in Utah. I'm not a bad sister, just a good dog owner. My parents told me that they would still go, and I could stay here with the dogs. This wasn't a big deal, since I'd stayed home alone before, and wasn't really scared of being by myself at night or anything.
Starting point is 00:55:23 So, in 2016, about a year after they'd booked the holiday, my dad is very conscientious of booking in advance and saving money, off they went to Utah, and I stayed home with my pups. They were going to be gone for a couple of weeks, so my mum had left a list of things that needed doing, feeding the dogs, taking the rubbish out, that sort of thing. I wasn't really the type of person to throw massive parties, or even go to them, so I was pretty happy just to spend my summer
Starting point is 00:55:50 in my home and chill. Things went smoothly at first, just normally, nothing to write home about. The best part was that I would take the dogs on the best walks, where they could get absolutely filthy, since my mom didn't usually like it when they came back from a walk covered in mud. I don't remember which day it was that I had been alone for. I wasn't keeping track since it was summer and I didn't have a schedule for college or work. I do remember though that it was about five o'clock, so it was still light outside, but the sky had a nice pink glow to it. I was sitting in the front room, which I don't usually do when my parents are home because that's where they sit, and we don't watch the same shows. So I had sprawled myself out on the sofa with my feet up and probably watching Grey's Anatomy or something I liked.
Starting point is 00:56:39 Then someone rang the doorbell, not that crazy, but the thing was that they had rung the doorbell at the back of the house. I don't know why we have a doorbell at the back door, since no one ever really used it apart from to play pranks and stuff. So it was really odd that someone would reach over the side of the gate where it was shorter, unlock it, and go to the back door. And even weirder, because it was a small village, and everyone pretty much knew each other, and knew that the front door was much more accessible. I wasn't worried, just a bit annoyed that someone was bothering me. So I got up and answered the door, looking a little pissed off. The man wasn't particularly tall or intimidating. The dog seemed to like him as well, but they'll stop me things and we'll make a fuss of anyone.
Starting point is 00:57:28 I ordered them off him and they retreated back to the front room, clearly already bored of the visitor. He said he was a salesman of some sort, and that he was confused by the layout of the house, so he let himself into the backway. He was smiling at me timidly, kind of embarrassed, I think, or at least pretending to be. I told him it was fine, but I'm not interested in buying anything and began to close the door, but he put a hand up to stop me and try and give me a sales pitch. That's when the dog started going nuts at the front door. They're barkers, but the barking they
Starting point is 00:58:03 were doing was aggressive, something I hadn't heard before from them. I told the man that I was sorry, but he needs to leave and went to investigate. The front door was literally a few steps away from the back, but you had to round a corner to do it. And as I did, I saw a man with one foot in my door. One hand on my dog's collar, deafness, and the other one raised to hit her. I quickly realized what was happening. That someone was trying to distract me at the back door so someone else could break in the front and rob me, or worse. I felt like my body was deflating from this realization and I was honestly terrified.
Starting point is 00:58:44 The man at the back door didn't seem to follow me in. In fact, I had a view from the front room window from where I was standing and saw him get into their little corsa pretty much as soon as I had seen his friend at my front door. I hope this is making sense. Anyway, the man had his hand up to hit Daphne, the collie, but Dolly, who was very protective of her new family after being rescued and had some pretty razor sharp teeth, was having none of it. I'm not sure exactly where she bit him, she seemed to do it all over, and Daphne soon joined in.
Starting point is 00:59:16 I'd never seen a dog attack before, but it was actually quite gory. I literally stood there for a few seconds, in pure shock. As silly as it sounds, the only thing I could think of while my dogs were attacking the intruder was that if they killed him, they might have to be put to sleep. So I stupidly called them off. It took a few yells, but they did eventually release the man, who got up and limped, slash ran to the corsa his friend was waiting in, thankfully not coming in any further to my house. Yes, I called the police.
Starting point is 00:59:51 No, we don't have cameras, so naturally not much came of it. I didn't tell the police that my dogs attacked the man, just that they had scared him off because I was honestly terrified that they would be punished for protecting their home. So I kept the doors locked all day for the rest of my spell home alone. My parents came back early and we do the same thing to this day. All I can say is that I'm so grateful for my dogs and words can't express how much I love them. Oh and also I'm seeing my tinted head again next week, so there's a second happy ending for you. I don't really know where to begin, but I suppose it all started before I was born.
Starting point is 01:00:48 My births set in motion a series of actions that led to a threat on my life beyond my control. Before my existence, my mother Jane dated an older guy named James when she was in her mid-teens. He adored her, but wasn't of the same religion as her, so she ended up marrying a gentleman from her congregation, instead leaving James rather put out. A year after being married, Jane birthed me, and decided she was unhappy with my father-dave and contacted James with intent to go back to him. So Jane packed a bag one night and took me and left.
Starting point is 01:01:31 As soon as she arrived at James's, she was mumbarded with messages from Dave telling her he would take full custody of me if she didn't return. So with a heavy heart, she chose me over James, and therein lies my problem. She went back to my father and after another year of failed attempts, they divorced, and my mother moved to the south to be with family, completely forgetting about James. My childhood was fairly normal for the next 13 years. A few house moves, a new stepdad, and a few siblings. Mother's second marriage falls through, and she single again.
Starting point is 01:02:12 About the year 2010, and she had discovered Facebook. Being newly single and having sudden contact with all of her old school friends, she quickly strikes up a few romances out of nostalgia. Nothing sticks though, until she finds him. James has a Facebook account, not very active, and no profile picture but my mom is sure that it's him and immediately falls in love again. He comes down south and meets us kids and stays for my 16th birthday party. He looks wise.
Starting point is 01:02:48 He's easily in his 50s with shaved grey hair, balding on top, glasses, and a creepy grin. So far not too bad, so why am I posting this here? How does this involve me and not wanting to meet this guy ever again? Well, when my mom leaves him a third time, he finally flips, and crazy comes out to play. He starts turning up at my house and invited. He is told to leave every single time. The visits become less frequent, and we think maybe he's gotten the message. But then, hand delivered letters start arriving for my mom. And it's the contents of these
Starting point is 01:03:32 letters that cause me alarm. In them, he details how, if she had never met my father, they could have been happy together. And he had a plan to get her back that was ruined by my untimely arrival. So he did what any crazy man would do, and started plotting to get me out of the picture. After all, I'm the reason she went back to Dave, wasn't I? Back in 1995, she had a near miss of a car accident, with baby me in the the car when a car clipped her at a junction. She didn't get the car's details, but put it down to chance. And the letters James tells her that that incident 15 years ago was him and that he won't miss this time. He informs her that he still believes that there is a chance for them, but only with me out of the picture.
Starting point is 01:04:29 I'm not a baby anymore. My father is well and truly out of the picture, but the crazy and James brain won't let it go. The next letter informs my mother that he has told social services that she is a drunk and that they will come and take me away. Not hard to prove that fall, so we don't panic. The next letter tells her that he will burn the house down. If he can't have her, no one else will. This is the one she takes to the police. Upon investigation, it is revealed that an ex of James, with the same first name as my mother, has a restraining order against him for stalking
Starting point is 01:05:13 an attempted arson. We are put on high alert in the process for a restraining order has begun. A few nights later, my mom hears someone outside the house. Thinking it's him, she calls the police. They arrive within five minutes and search the street. No James, but his car is found behind the resident garages. He doesn't return to it that night. The next day the police contacted a woman's hostel in a neighborhood in County. They have a spare room so we packed our bags and headed there.
Starting point is 01:05:49 And so that summer of my life was spent in hiding. No friends, no social media. Well, I wasn't supposed to use social media, but it was easy enough using the computers and the teen rec room. That was easy. I was the only teen at the hostel at this point. And very stupid. James began messaging me through my Facebook playing nice, telling me how much he loved my mom and needed to know that she was okay. I ignored him and blocked his account. I had a number of fake accounts to try and befriend me and they were all blocked also. Now, after three months, they find us a new house and we have a week to go back and pack up our old lives.
Starting point is 01:06:36 So that's what we do. And now it's eight years later and I've moved several times since, including for university. And honestly honestly haven't given much thought to the man who wanted to kill me so he could be with my mother. Two years ago I moved back up North, not far from my birthplace. Two weeks ago, I received an email from an old email account for a rental agreement. At first I thought it was spam, but upon opening it, the name at the top red to James Smith, and the rental address was not too far from me.
Starting point is 01:07:12 That sick fuck gave my email to the rentals as his so that I would know he was nearby. I heard nothing else, but I seriously hope that we don't ever meet again. 18T Fiber Presents A Straight Forward Moment Your wine? Thanks. I'll pretend I know what I'm doing before saying it's good. And I'll pretend I don't know you're pretending. A straightforward moment. equipment fees, no data caps, no price increase at 12 months. Live like a Gagillionaire with AT&T fiber,
Starting point is 01:08:05 limited availability and select areas, visit at ATT.com slash Hypergate for details. Thanks for listening to this week's lost stories, episode of Let's Not Me, a true horror podcast this week you have heard. Window Creeper by Blah Blah XO followed me home from the movie theater by Amy Lucy. The neighbor kid is a psycho by Charlie Aint here.
Starting point is 01:08:26 My stalker disappeared after three horrifying years by Holly Pop. A sleep when a stranger enters the room by AMG Glitterfinger, a train journey from hell by an author that asked to remain anonymous. I accepted a ride from someone who was not my father by unfair advantage. Grindr Stalker by British Dweeb 96. My dogs might have saved my life and their home by M. Blue. And finally, how being born put my life in danger by Twilight T. Leaves. All of the stories you've heard this week were narrated and produced with the permission
Starting point is 01:09:03 of their respective authors. Let's not meet the True Horror Podcast is not associated with Reddit or any other message boards online. As always, if you have a story to share, send it to Let's Not Meet Stories at gmail.com. And if you're looking for the true paranormal, don't forget to check out the new episode of my other podcast, OddTrails at OddTrails.com, or wherever you get your podcasts. And if you're a patron, stick around after the music for a special extended version of this week's episode, and if you want to get access to that extension, as well as a ton
Starting point is 01:09:34 of other bonus stories and content, head over to patreon.com forward slash Let's Not Meet Podcast to support the show today. I'll see you all next week for a brand new episode of Let's Not Meet a True Horror Podcast. Stay safe. This part of my life always makes me feel anxious whenever I think about it. AT&T Fiber presents A Straight Forward Moment. You're one. Thanks. whenever I think about it. Ugh, this wine. I'll fetch you a better one. Straight forward is better. No equipment fees, no data caps, no price increase at 12 months. Live like a Gagillionaire with AT&T Fiber. Limited availability in select areas, visit AT&T.com slash Hypergig for details. AT&T Fiber presents a straightforward moment. Your wine?
Starting point is 01:10:56 Thanks. I'll pretend I know what I'm doing before saying it's good. And I'll pretend I don't know you're pretending. Are you a Gagillionaire? Yeah, I have AT&T Fiber. The straightforward pricing has inspired me to be more straightforward. Me too.
Starting point is 01:11:10 Ugh, this wine. I'll fetch you a better one. Straight forward is better. No equipment fees, no data caps, no price increase at 12 months. Live like a Gigillionaire with AT&T Fiber. Limited availability in select areas. Visit at AT&T.com slash hypergig for details.
Starting point is 01:11:17 visit at at.com slash hypergig for details.

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