You gotta trust your gut, my friends!
Because if your gut warns you that something is wrong, it usually is.
Let these scary stories from AskReddit users drive that point home, okay?
Take a look…
1. That’s scary.
“I was walking to school in middle school and this lady with a car pulled over next to me and called me Linda. That’s not my name, but was close enough I looked up.
She apologized and explained she thought I was her grandkid. Then she offered me a ride to school. Except that I was already standing on the school grounds. I had a half block walk before I needed to turn to walk into the building.
When I said no she tried to demand I get into the car. I said no thanks and took off running. It occured to me much later that she probably had no intention of dropping me off at school.”
2. Drugged.
“I used to have this drinking buddy. He was a regular at the cafe I worked at.
Asked if I wanted to grab drinks, okay sure and hence began our drinking friendship. During this time, I was a heavy drinker. Like my roommate and I would usually take five shots to get tipsy kind of thing and then continue drinking throughout the night.
One night this guy asks me to come out with his friends to this pub. I get my own drink first, and then the second drink he offers to buy. I suppose I trusted him at this point, so I didn’t go up to the bar when he went. He comes back and I drink the drink.
I knew something was wrong within minutes. My head started swirling, I was slurring and I felt f**ked up and d**nk. Right away I knew I had to leave. He was very vocal about me staying, but I just pushed past him.
He followed me outside. Now this is when Uber first started up, so I called Uber from my phone. I was trying to close the door, he was still trying to argue for me to stay. Or perhaps he should come with me to make sure I got home alright. F**k that, I left.
The next day I was asleep all day, I couldn’t really move or get up. I was in and out of consciousness. F**king weird. And why do I think it was him that drugged me? I had put all my cards and my ID into a pocket on the inside of my jacket that was zipped up.
They were all gone, and guess who had them? That guy. He went into my f**king jacket and took all my s**t so I wouldn’t be able to pay a cab. Jokes on him that Uber had just become a thing.”
3. The Outback.
“I was working on a radio system in the local water tower of a pretty remote Outback town.
It was a beautiful late spring day in October when I got there, but after about 2 hours the bird noises stopped, the breeze stopped… I took my equipment out of Standby and flagged it as live test because I had the weirdest feeling I didn’t have time to fully test it and went outside to sit in the car.
About ninety seconds later there was a direct lightning strike on the tower I’d just left, it was the highest point in 200km. It was literally the loudest thing I’d ever heard. Ever.”
4. Hitchhiking.
“Back when I was about 17 and invincible, I got tired of waiting for the bus on my way home from school and started hitchhiking. A scruffy-looking guy in a beat up pick up truck pulled over and I got in. He wouldn’t look directly at me, but had a kind of creepy smile on his face.
I told him I needed to go straight down the street about 12 blocks, but about six blocks later he gets into a turn lane and puts on his turn signal. I finally realized something was up and my radar was going off like crazy.
I saw some random guy on the street waiting at the crosswalk, so I started waving at him like crazy. Then I said, “Oh man, I’m in trouble now! That’s my brother and he’s going to be asking me who I was with in the truck!” The random guy was looking at us strangely, probably trying to figure out who I was and why I was waving at him.
The creepy guy’s smile leaves his face and he turns off the turn signal. He drove straight down the street and I had him drop me off three blocks away from my home.
I have no idea why it occurred to me to start waving at the guy, but I really think it save me from some big trouble.”
5. Parking garage.
“One day I was in a parking garage across the street from a courthouse after filing a document.
I get off the elevator where I THINK my car is parked and it’s nowhere to be found. I start wandering around pushing the button for it to beep. After about a minute of wondering I notice a guy walking around too.
He doesn’t appear to be following me but, he’s giving me the creeps anyway so, I keep an eye on him. There is no one else on that level except him and me.
Finally I determine that my car must not be on that level and get in the elevator to go down a level. I get off the elevator and keep an eye on it for a second. The guy doesn’t appear so I brush it off as my paranoia. I start walking around pushing the button again.
Then, as I turn the corner, there’s the guy again. So, this time I KNOW he’s following me. I head for the elevators, then I notice that he’s heading that way too and is on par to cut me off and I start to panic. Again, we’re alone on the level.
Just then the elevator doors open and two guys in suits get off. I run up to them and say “THERE you guys are. I’ve been looking for you all over this level and the one above. Where the hell did you guys park?” and I laugh.
The guys kind of look at me weird but, to their credit, they don’t even blink and one of them responds with “Oh, sorry, we’re on this level but we brought Tom’s car instead of mine and I forgot to tell you. We’re parked over here” and they lead me away. I see the guy that had been following me stop, stare, then start down the stairs beside the elevator.
Once he leaves I tell the guys what had happened and they helped me find my car (it was on the first level, I just never got close enough to hear it beep) and I was safe. To this day I know that guy was waiting for me to find my car so he could do something nefarious.
I avoid parking garages at all costs now. If I’m forced to park in one, I take a picture of where I park so I don’t get lost anymore. I also carry pepper spray on my keychain.”
6. On the beach.
“I was sitting on the beach alone and noticed that a man walking along the water was staring at me. I tried to shake it off thinking maybe he had friends or family somewhere behind and wasn’t actually looking at me.
He started walking up from the water and walked right up to me, but didn’t stop and circled around me. I felt awkward so I didn’t make eye contact. He walked away. I’m thinking at the time, maybe it was in my head.
About an hour later, he came back and did the same thing. Went down to the water, looked at me, then started walking up to me. He came right up to me again and as he starts to circle me I look at him and notice he’s staring not only at me but also at all of my things, like he was taking inventory of what I had with me. I finally said, “Can I help you?” And he seemed surprised that I spoke up and says, “oh no, no, no!” And walks away.
After he walked away, I couldn’t shake the uneasy gut feeling. They say when you know something is wrong, not to ignore your gut feeling. And I can’t explain it but I KNEW.
I was too scared to walk back to my car alone, so I ended up walking over to another man nearby who had been keeping to himself and told him what had happened and that I just wanted someone to walk back to the parking lot with so I wouldn’t have to walk back alone.
He confirmed that the man was in fact totally watching me the entire time I was there – he noticed and said he saw him creeping around a couple other girls as well.
That beach is ruined for me. As I walked back with the kind stranger I still felt like I was being watched and I was paranoid my entire drive home. I’m so thankful for that kind stranger.
Don’t be afraid to ask for help and if you feel like you’re in danger, don’t ignore that feeling!!”
7. Not overreacting.
“Late at night, I was sitting in my car waiting for my boyfriend to finish his shift. A guy walks past and we make eye contact.
I feel this sense of danger but figure I’m overreacting. A few minutes pass and the fear won’t go away. I finally decide to move my car away from the edge of the parking lot to the front of the restaurant in the customer parking area. I start up my car and just as I’m putting it into drive, the guy rushes out from behind and tries to yank open my door, pulling on it really hard.
I hit the gas and he trails me for a second, then hits my window with a rock. I keep going and he throws the rock at me then runs away. I was shaking so badly I could barely steer. Pretty sure he was sneaking up on me just as I decided to start my engine.”
8. Fire.
“I was living about five hours away from my parents and spent Easter with them. The plan was to take Monday off work and drive back that day, but for some reason, I decided to go back on Sunday night.
Woke up about three to a weird noise and hit the touch lamp next to my bed. It made a loud popping sound and turned off. Thinking hm, something isn’t right here, I got up and grabbed the bedroom door handle. It was so hot that I immediately pulled my hand back. As it turned out, my entire apartment was in flames.
My living room caught fire from a faulty electric outlet and it spread to the dining room by the time I got up. The only ways out were through the living room to the front door or through the dining room and kitchen to the back door.
I used whatever strength I had to shove my headboard away from the window, broke the window out with my glass, and just screamed. My landlord was letting a guy illegally live in a storage room. He heard me and ran right down the block to the fire station. They actually got me through the window and then put out the fire.
I was hours away from my family, had no money or ID, lost my cell phone and car keys in the fire, and it was only like four am. I ended up losing pretty much everything. My neighbor was nice enough to let me shower at her place and give me some clothes until my parents made the drive.”
9. Close call.
“I was about 13 or so years old and walking home from school along the railroad tracks. A “police officer” in an unmarked crownvic in a suit and tie stops on the adjoining road to yell and wave me down to him.
Stupid kid me starts to comply with a cop. Next thing I know a real cop pulls up behind him, gets out and approaches the man. He speaks to him a second and tells me to go home. Looking back I was this close to becoming a child abduction case.”
10. Head on highway.
“On a dark, dark January night I was driving a semi hauling 2 twenty foot trailers south on US 93 in Arizona, USA.
This was another infamous highway in the US known as “head-on highway.” It was under construction turning it from a two lane to a four lane divided highway. The speed limit was 55mph.
Looking a head I saw the head lights of on coming traffic coming down a hill with a right hand curve at the bottom. In a flash I realize something isn’t right with the lead vehicle. In the next instance it is clear they are on my side of the highway and then d**n, they are on my shoulder going north.
My knee jerk reaction is to steer left and avoid them. There is a double yellow line separating the north and south bound lanes. As I get close to the yellow lines, I swear I hear my father’s voice ring in my ear, ” you do not drive in their lane, do NOT drive in their lane.” The thing is, my father was a union freight hauler with 2.5 million accident free miles when he retired. Plus, he had passed away 11 years before this happened.
By then I was off the throttle and feathering my breaks with my left foot so, I hugged those yellow lines on MY side of the highway. The other driver saw he was headed for some big yellow crash barrels lined up at the end of a guard rail and swerved to get back on his side of the highway.
When he did this I was down to about 35mph with him somewhere around 65 (according to the accident investigator) and he hit us in the drivers side steer tire. He knocked it of the axle and tore the fuel filter off the engine. We rolled a short distance and the hood popped open when we stopped which let me see that the engine was on fire.
I yelled at my co-driver, who had slept through the whole accident by the way, that we were on fire and had to get out. He flew out of the sleeper birth with his cowboy hat and clothes in hand. I jumped out of the cab and grabbed the fire extinguisher and sprayed it under the cab.
I could see that the crossover fuel line had been displace and diesel was flowing onto the spreading fire. I threw the extinguisher away reached into the cab and grabbed my coat, our log books and the bill of lading (we were hauling a placarded load with flammable materials). Meanwhile, the other vehicle had come to a stop some hundred feet or so past us.
When DPS (Arizona Department of Public Safety) arrived they found a case of beer bottles on the floor of their back seat with half of them empty and shut the scene down as a crime scene, d**nk driving. It took fire and rescue an hour to cut the roof off and extract the driver who had suffered a broken leg.
His brother was in the jump seat and had a broken arm. Our tractor and front trailer burned to the ground. I will never forget the sound of the tires on our tractor exploding due to the fire. 110psi makes a hell of a racket when it goes off.
A couple of months later I received a letter of commendation from DPS with the accident investigator telling me the two brothers probably owed their lives to the way I handled the accident. It all happened in a flash but I still get emotional about it 16 years later.”
11. Two stories.
“I’ve got 2 of them. Both shook me up.
I worked as a bouncer in bfe Missouri and about midnight one night I got sent to Walmart for some things. Driving down 50 I caught glimpse of a figure on the side of the road. Ghostly corner of your eye kind of thing. I pulled over and a young woman approached my passenger door.
She was hyperventilating almost and really freaked out. I couldn’t understand her so I just told her to get in my truck. As we sat there for a moment she tried to talk. Just then a van pulled up behind me, still on the side of highway 50, and a man jumped out and approached the passenger side window that was still down.
He grabbed the girl and starting cussing me. About half a second goes by before I collect myself and in my biggest voice calmly explain he needs to back off and she’s not leaving my truck. I told him I have no idea what’s going on but I’m taking her wherever she wants to go.
We talked on the way to the hospital. She was from out of state, some guys she met through a friend assaulted her and drug her out to a field. She was beaten until she played d**d. She escaped from the back of the van when they stopped for gas.
I don’t usually stop for strangers at midnight but something in my gut made me slam on my brakes for that woman.
Other Missouri story, still bouncing, I used to drive girls for private shows. One girl decided to schedule her own show and make some money without having to tip me I guess. Guys wouldn’t give her the address for the party just told them to meet them at a closed gas station off of 50.
On the way there she got nervous and called me. I was in bed half asleep but after hearing her I tried to talk her into just turning around. She insisted on meeting the guys because she needed the money. Made some comment about if I don’t go with her it’ll be my fault when she’s missing and on the news.
So I met her at the empty gas station. The whole scene made me nervous, especially because they weren’t expecting me. And a**holes get stupid when spooked. We sat for 10 minutes while we waited. The whole time I tried to convince her to go home.
3 vehicles rolled up with several guys in them. They were all d**nk/f**ked up. She jumped out the car to be friendly. But the moment I stepped out and they saw me they started cussing and hollering and rolled out in a hurry.
I’m not the toughest idiot, I just don’t think they expected a witness.
Avoid highway 50.”
12. Stalker.
“I remember for several weeks I felt something was off, but I could never pin point what it was. I felt as if someone was following my every move.
At the coffee shop I worked at, I had frequent regular customers, but one stood out. He would ask for my number over and over again, give me large tips and hang around longer then he had to.
Every time I rejected him he would become more persistent, I told him I was lesbian (which was true) but even that didn’t deter him, he would say things like “you haven’t been with the right man” and “pretty girl like you doesn’t know what your missing out on”. I was creeped out, but I ignored it.
On the bus ride home, as soon I got off, I noticed someone behind me was following the same path I was, shortcut’s and everything. When I fast walked, they fast walked. Then when I ran, they ran. It wasn’t until they were out of sight I went into the direction my apartment.
The next day, I asked my boss if I could see the security footage from last night when I left. To my horror, that very same guy had been waiting around the corner of the store and only moved when I left to go to my bus stop. The further we looked at past the footage, the more sick I felt. The same guy had been waiting outside at night, every night, for the past three weeks.
That day I waited for him to come in while my boss called the police, as soon as he came in the cops questioned him. He wasn’t nervous at all, he was convinced that we were in a serious relationship and had memorized my work schedule, bus schedule and even what stops I frequently used, so he always knew where I was.
As it turned out, my gut feeling of something being horribly wrong was more accurate than I imagined. I found out later he had done this to other women before, one of them he broke into her house. It scarred the hell out of me knowing how far he was willing to go for a ‘relationship’.”
Do you have any stories like this?
If so, talk to us in the comments.
Thanks a lot!
