Horror Stories

00:05 Hello everyone and welcome back to Horror Stories. I know many of you use these episodes to fall asleep, so before you drift off, I'd love it if you could leave a comment letting me know where you're listening from around the world. 00:17 Also, don't forget to like and subscribe if you're enjoying the episodes. 00:26 Story one. 00:28 Halloween decorations were already hanging throughout Cedar Heights when I moved there that September. 00:34 Skeletons dangled from roofs, and artificial cobwebs covered nearly every other porch in the neighborhood. 00:41 I had just signed a lease for a studio apartment after my divorce was finalized. 00:46 I was 37 years old and rebuilding my life from the ground up. 00:50 At least the neighborhood appeared welcoming. 00:52 My co-worker Jenna lived two blocks away and continually invited me to different activities to help me adjust. 00:59 That was how she persuaded me to attend the neighborhood's annual Halloween block party with her group. 01:05 According to Jenna, the entire community took the celebrations seriously. They closed three complete streets, and everyone drank and danced until sunrise. 01:15 It was the sort of event where someone could forget their problems for one evening. 01:19 I wasn't particularly interested in parties anymore. but sitting by myself in an empty apartment and watching horror movies didn't sound any more appealing. 01:28 Jenna also assured me that her friends were pleasant. 01:31 Most belonged to her book club and preferred wine to disorder. 01:35 The night began in an entirely ordinary way, almost boringly so. I met Jenna and four other people at her apartment around 9 o'clock. 01:44 Everyone was making last-minute costume adjustments and drinking cheap vodka before leaving. 01:49 My costume was simple, a pair of cat ears and whiskers drawn across my face. I hadn't had enough energy to plan anything complicated. 01:58 Jenna, however, had completely transformed herself into a witch, wearing a velvet gown and a genuine vintage hat she had discovered at an estate sale. 02:07 Our group walked to the celebration together, with the bass already pounding loudly enough to be heard from two streets away. 02:14 I remember being amazed by the size of the crowd. 02:17 At least 300 people were packed into the barricaded area, and more arrived every minute. 02:22 Organizers had hung lights between the trees and positioned speakers at every corner, playing a combination of classic rock and current pop songs. 02:32 Most of the homes had their doors open. 02:34 Guests wandered freely in and out, took beverages from coolers on the porches, used strangers' bathrooms, and treated the entire area as one gigantic house party. 02:45 For approximately two hours, I genuinely had fun. 02:50 I danced in the street with Jenna's friends, accepted drinks from random neighbors dressed like zombies and superheroes, and felt like part of a community for the first time in months. 03:00 Around midnight, just as the celebration reached its most chaotic point, I realized that I had completely lost sight of Jenna. 03:08 It had probably happened when I stopped to pet someone's dog, which was wearing a hot dog costume, while she continued walking with the rest of the group. 03:16 I searched for nearly 20 minutes, forcing my way through crowds of drunken pirates and sexy nurses and checking the porches where we had spent time earlier. 03:26 Between the costumes and the alcohol, everyone began to look identical. 03:31 A blur of faces and synthetic wigs. 03:34 My phone was already displaying its low battery alert. Only 12% remained, and when I tried calling Jenna, the call went directly to voicemail. Her battery had probably died as well because she never remembered to charge her phone. The intelligent thing would have been to walk home immediately. 03:51 My apartment was only about 15 minutes away, but I had consumed four or five drinks and felt unsteady enough to prefer requesting a ride. 04:00 The app kept malfunctioning, probably because hundreds of people in the same place were attempting to request vehicles simultaneously. 04:08 It alternated between estimated waits of 45 minutes and prices three times higher than normal. 04:14 Merely leaving the screen illuminated caused my battery to drop to 7%. 04:19 I moved away from the main celebration, hoping the app would function better in a less crowded area. 04:25 I followed one of the residential streets branching off from the party, where the music sounded more distant and fewer people were standing outside. 04:33 Most of the homes were dark. Their occupants were either attending the celebration or intentionally leaving their lights off to avoid the disruption. 04:42 About six houses down the street, however, I noticed a carved pumpkin glowing on a set of front steps. Its candle flickered behind triangular eyes. 04:52 The jack-o'-lantern made me assume that the house was somehow participating in the party. Perhaps it was a quieter gathering place for older residents. I thought I could knock and ask whether I might wait indoors while my phone charged long enough to call a ride. 05:06 By that point, the battery had fallen to 3%. The screen automatically dimmed to conserve power, and I knew I probably had only two minutes before the phone shut down entirely. 05:18 From outside, the house seemed normal. Its exterior was beige with burgundy shutters. A porch swing moved slightly and creaked in the wind. 05:27 It was one of those generic suburban houses that could have belonged to anybody. 05:31 I knocked twice and heard approaching footsteps almost immediately. 05:35 The door opened, revealing a man who looked to be in his fifties. He wore ordinary clothing, khakis and a button-down shirt, as if he had been working from home. 05:46 He wasn't wearing any kind of costume, which seemed unusual on Halloween night but wasn't exactly frightening. 05:52 He had an exceptionally warm smile, the kind that formed wrinkles at the corners of his eyes. 05:58 Before I could explain why I was there, he said that I appeared lost and asked whether I needed assistance. 06:05 His voice was gentle and filled with the neighborly concern of someone who sincerely wanted to help. 06:10 When I explained that my phone was about to die and I needed to arrange a ride, he immediately moved aside and motioned for me to enter. 06:18 Of course, no problem at all, he said. 06:22 He told me there was a charger in the kitchen that I could use. 06:25 The interior of his house was strangely immaculate, almost like a staged model home. 06:31 Everything was decorated in beige and cream. 06:34 There were no family photographs or personal pictures on the walls, only generic landscape paintings. 06:40 A bowl filled with decorative spheres sat on the coffee table. The smell reached me immediately as well. The sharp scent of pine cleaner filled the house, mixed with something I couldn't identify. It was almost metallic, although not quite. 06:55 I remember assuming that he had thoroughly cleaned the house before the party weekend. He guided me through the living room and into the kitchen, walking at a controlled pace as though he were conducting a tour. 07:07 He pointed out the bathroom farther down the hallway in case I needed it. He also mentioned that the property had belonged to his family for years, although he had only recently returned to live there. 07:18 The kitchen was just as spotless as every other room. 07:21 The white cabinets appeared freshly painted, and the granite countertops didn't have a crumb or water stain anywhere on them. 07:29 He opened a drawer and removed a phone charger. 07:32 The drawer contained organizers separating every object. 07:35 Batteries occupied one section, cables another, and every category had been identified with a label maker. He connected the charger to an outlet near the breakfast nook and invited me to sit at the small table. 07:49 He asked whether I wanted coffee or water while I waited and said it would probably take 10 or 15 minutes for the phone to gain enough power to request a ride. 07:57 When I connected it, the screen came on and displayed 2% battery. 08:02 Relief washed over me but vanished almost immediately when I realized that the phone had no signal whatsoever. 08:08 That was unusual because I'd had full reception while standing outside. 08:13 The man was already operating the coffee maker, pressing buttons and taking mugs from a cabinet. 08:19 He hadn't waited for my answer about whether I wanted anything. 08:23 He had simply assumed that I did. 08:25 As he worked, he hummed a tune I didn't recognize. I mentioned the loss of reception. 08:31 He laughed. Not in a mocking way, but as though he had heard the complaint many times before. 08:37 He explained that the house's walls were unusually thick because of the original construction from the 1960s. He said something about multiple layers of lead paint and later renovations producing areas without cellular reception. 08:51 However, he had Wi-Fi and I could connect to it to place a call through an app. 08:56 He recited the Wi-Fi password from memory. 08:59 It was a lengthy sequence of apparently random letters and numbers. 09:04 I entered it while he poured coffee into two identical white mugs. 09:08 The coffee was so dark that it resembled motor oil. 09:11 The phone successfully connected to the Wi-Fi, but the battery remained at 2%. 09:17 It wasn't charging, despite the lightning bolt icon showing that power was connected. 09:22 I unplugged the cable and inserted it again. 09:25 Nothing changed. In fact, the percentage dropped to 1%. 09:30 Panic began creeping through me when the screen finally turned completely black. 09:34 The battery had died. I immediately rose from the table and said I should probably walk home. 09:40 My apartment wasn't far away. and I had already sobered up considerably. 09:45 The man placed the mug of coffee he had prepared for me on the counter. Steam continued to rise from it, and his expression changed almost imperceptibly. 09:54 He didn't appear angry. 09:56 If anything, he looked disappointed, as though I had behaved rudely by declining his hospitality. 10:02 He suggested that I use his landline instead. 10:05 He pointed toward an old beige telephone attached to the kitchen wall, which I hadn't noticed earlier. 10:12 Cell phones were unreliable anyway, he said. They always seemed to lose power at the worst possible moments. 10:18 When I lifted the receiver, however, there was no dial tone. I heard only a strange hum of static. 10:25 He quickly told me that the telephone had been malfunctioning lately. 10:29 The phone company was supposed to repair it. But no technician had arrived. 10:34 Typical customer service these days, he said, giving a dry laugh that never reached his eyes. 10:40 That was when I truly began noticing all the details that didn't make sense. There were no dishes in either the sink or the dishwasher, even though he supposedly lived there. No letters, newspapers, or other papers rested on any surface. 10:54 I couldn't see a code or set of keys anywhere. 10:57 Most disturbing of all, I couldn't hear anything outside, even though an enormous party was taking place only a few blocks away. 11:05 The man watched as I registered those details. He stood between me and the hallway leading back to the front entrance. He wasn't precisely blocking my exit, but he had positioned himself so that I would have to pass extremely close to him to leave. 11:20 He lifted the coffee mug again and extended it toward me with an insistent motion. 11:25 He said I should at least drink some caffeine before walking home alone. 11:29 The neighborhood could become confusing at night, and I looked tired. Perhaps I should sit down again for only a minute. 11:36 His tone remained friendly on the surface, but something else lurked underneath it. 11:42 It carried the uncomfortable pressure of someone refusing to accept no as an answer about something supposedly innocent. 11:48 My entire body was demanding that I escape the house immediately. 11:53 I forced myself to laugh, producing an unnaturally cheerful sound. 11:57 Actually, I just remembered that my roommate is probably wondering where I am. I should get going. Thank you so much for trying to help, though. 12:06 I was already moving toward the hallway as I spoke. 12:09 He stepped aside at the final moment, but when I passed him, his hand suddenly reached out and closed around my wrist. 12:16 He didn't grip me tightly enough to cause pain, but he held me firmly enough to prevent me from moving. 12:23 Wait, at least let me walk you home since it's so late. I wouldn't feel right letting you leave alone, he said. 12:30 I jerked my arm free with more force than necessary and practically sprinted along the hallway. 12:36 I heard him following directly behind me, his heavy footsteps striking the hardwood floor. 12:42 When I reached the entrance, I discovered that the deadbolt was locked. It was the kind that required a key on both sides. 12:49 My fingers struggled with the lock for what felt like endless seconds as he approached. 12:54 He continued speaking in that composed voice, warning me to be cautious. 12:59 The neighborhood wasn't as safe as it appeared, he said. Parties brought many strangers into the area. 13:06 The lock finally clicked open. 13:09 I threw myself onto the porch and the cold night air struck my face like a slap. 13:14 I ran along his front path without turning around. 13:17 He called something after me about being careful but he didn't follow me beyond the doorway. 13:22 The street was entirely silent The party music had disappeared, even though it was only slightly after one o'clock in the morning, much too early for the celebration to have ended. 13:33 The darkness also seemed denser somehow. The streetlights created isolated circles of yellow, making the shadows between them appear almost solid. 13:43 I hurried toward the main road, and my cat ears fell off somewhere along the way. 13:47 I didn't care about anything except increasing the distance between myself and that house. 13:53 Only after I reached the party area and discovered that the celebration was still in full swing, with people everywhere and music blasting, did I understand how strangely soundproof the man's street had been. 14:05 It was as if the street existed inside its own bubble, disconnected from everything around it. 14:11 I found Jenna 20 minutes later near the drink station. She was completely wasted but sick with worry. 14:17 She said she had been texting me for an hour and had even returned to her apartment to see whether I had gone home. 14:24 I told her that my phone had died and that I'd gotten lost. I said nothing about the man or his house because, surrounded by the safety of the crowd, bright lights and loud music, the entire experience already seemed unreal. 14:38 Perhaps I had simply overreacted to someone who had been attempting to help me. 14:43 We remained at the party for another hour. Jenna insisted that we dance so we could sober up before walking home. 14:50 I continued searching the crowd expecting the man to appear, but I never saw him. 14:55 At approximately 3 o'clock in the morning we finally left with Jenna's book club friends. 15:00 We all walked back to her apartment where I slept on the couch because I didn't want to return to my empty place alone. 15:07 The following morning I awakened to Jenna shaking me. 15:10 Her face was pale as she held out her phone and showed me something. Someone had posted in the neighborhood Facebook group about police cars surrounding a beige house with burgundy shutters on Sycamore Lane, the street where I had been. 15:23 According to the Post, neighbors had complained about an odor and requested a wellness check. 15:29 When officers entered the building, they found evidence that someone had been occupying it illegally. 15:34 The house had supposedly remained vacant since February, when its owner, a man named Christopher Vaughn, was arrested for assault and false imprisonment. 15:44 An article Jenna found reported that Vaughn had confined a woman in his basement for three days before she escaped. 15:50 He had been held in the county jail while awaiting trial. 15:54 Apparently, however, he had been released on bail two weeks earlier and no one knew where he was. 15:59 Police began conducting a more exhaustive search of the property. 16:03 By that afternoon, local news stations reported that officers had discovered a hidden basement room that had recently been used. 16:10 Restraints were bolted to the wall, and fresh scratches marked the door frame. They never found anyone inside, alive or dead. They discovered only evidence that someone had been preparing the room by storing bottles of water and energy bars and placing a small chemical toilet in one corner, getting it ready for another long-term guest. 16:35 Story 2 Halloween had always been my favorite holiday until 2022, when everything changed within three hours. 16:43 I was renting a one-bedroom unit on the fourth floor of Riverside Apartments, one of those complexes with exterior walkways and metal railings that shook whenever someone passed. 16:54 My divorce papers had been finalized that August. At 37, I was learning how to live alone again after 15 years of marriage. 17:02 On most nights I fell asleep while watching cooking programs on my laptop, surrounded by half-empty takeout containers and files from the accounting firm where I worked 60-hour weeks simply to avoid the silence. 17:14 Halloween fell on a Monday that year. The night before I had purchased two bags of fun-sized candy bars, expecting perhaps a dozen children. 17:23 Most of the families in the building had moved away during the summer after the rent increased. 17:28 At approximately 7.30, I was settling down with leftover pad thai and trying to decide whether I wanted to answer the door for trick-or-treaters at all when I heard a quiet knock. 17:39 It wasn't the excited, pounding children usually produced while rushing from one home to another. energized by sugar. 17:46 This knocking was deliberate, three controlled taps with precisely equal pauses between them. 17:52 When I looked through the peephole, I saw a boy who appeared to be 11 or 12. He wore an old-fashioned astronaut costume made from silver fabric and held a white helmet beneath one arm. 18:03 He was by himself, which seemed unusual because children his age normally traveled in groups on Halloween. 18:09 especially in an apartment complex where half the exterior lights had been broken for months. 18:15 His face looked pale and sweaty, as though he had been running. 18:19 He repeatedly glanced along the walkway toward the stairwell. 18:23 I opened the entrance but kept the security chain attached, a habit I had developed after living in the city for so long. 18:30 The boy stared directly at me with grey eyes that seemed far too concentrated for someone his age. 18:36 His gaze didn't wander and he didn't look toward the floor the way children commonly did when speaking with strangers. 18:42 Could I please have some water? He asked, his voice cracking slightly. 18:47 I've been walking for a while and my throat really hurts. 18:51 He never said anything about trick-or-treating. He didn't carry a pillowcase or a plastic pumpkin for collecting candy. He simply stood perfectly motionless in the shiny astronaut outfit, which appeared to have come from a thrift store. 19:05 Only his fingers moved. 19:07 They tapped against his thigh in a steady pattern, with his thumb touching each finger repeatedly. 19:13 Farther away, I could hear other children laughing somewhere in the apartment complex, their voices echoing from the concrete. 19:20 Yet this boy seemed entirely separate from the surrounding Halloween commotion. 19:25 Despite the uncomfortable sensation moving up my spine, my maternal instincts took over. 19:31 I told him to remain there while I went into the kitchen, leaving the door partly open and the chain still secured. 19:37 The kitchen was approximately 15 feet from the front entrance. 19:41 I removed a plastic cup from the dishwasher, poured cold water from the filtered pitcher, and even added two ice cubes because the child truly appeared overheated. 19:51 The entire process took perhaps 45 seconds, certainly less than one minute. But when I returned, the boy was gone. The walkway was empty in both directions. 20:02 Unless he had somehow leaped over the railing and fallen four stories, there was no way he could have reached either stairwell so rapidly. 20:10 The candy bag I had left beside the door remained in place, although someone appeared to have shifted it slightly. 20:16 It had been rotated so that its opening faced the opposite direction. 20:20 I stepped onto the walkway while still holding that ridiculous cup of water, the ice cubes knocking against the plastic. 20:27 The residents of apartment 4B had their television loud enough for me to hear an action movie through their door. 20:34 On a lower floor, several teenagers dressed as zombies compared their candy halls under a flickering parking lot light. 20:40 Nobody had seen a child wearing an astronaut costume. 20:44 When I returned inside, I nearly missed the change. The candy bag felt just as heavy when I lifted it to move it away from the entrance. But when I looked inside to take a piece for myself, every candy bar was gone. 20:57 Instead, the bag contained a single sheet of paper folded into a flawless square, resembling the origami fortune tellers we made during a middle school. 21:06 The apartment door was still open, with the chain hanging loosely. 21:11 I hurriedly closed it, turned the deadbolt, and positioned the additional security bar I had installed the previous month after someone attempted to force the lock on Unit 4G down the hallway. 21:23 It was an ordinary sheet of notebook paper with three punched holes, blue lines and a red margin. 21:29 When I unfolded it, I discovered a hand-drawn map of the apartment complex. It was unexpectedly precise and detailed. 21:37 Every building had been drawn and labeled from A through F. The map included the parking lots, the dumpster areas, and even the small playground that had been closed for repairs since September. 21:48 A heavy red circle, apparently drawn in crayon, surrounded my building. 21:53 Building D. However, the notes written in pencil around the margins were what caused my knees to weaken. 22:00 The handwriting was too controlled and tidy to have belonged to a child. 22:04 Fire escape access. Ladder extends to third floor. 22:09 Maintenance closet unlocked Wednesdays. Camera blind spot between buildings D and E. Security patrol 11 p.m. and 3 a.m. only. At the bottom, in the same careful handwriting, were several additional observations. 22:24 Fourth floor corner unit. Sliding door. Standard lock. 22:29 No secondary security. My apartment had a small balcony accessible through a sliding glass door in the living room. 22:36 I immediately went to inspect it. The lock was engaged and the wooden dowel I kept inside the track had not moved. 22:43 But I suddenly noticed several things I had never considered before. 22:47 Only around three feet separated my balcony from the neighboring balcony attached to vacant unit 4D. An adult could easily step across the opening. 22:56 The railing was also low enough for a tall person standing on the level below to reach upward and grab it. 23:03 I pulled the vertical blinds closed with such force that one of the slats cracked. Then I called the police, although I understood how ridiculous my explanation would sound. 23:13 A child had requested water, disappeared almost instantly, and left a map inside my bag of candy. 23:20 The dispatcher recorded my information and said an officer would respond when someone became available. 23:26 Because it was Halloween night, police were already handling vandalism complaints, intoxicated drivers, and all the other ordinary holiday problems. 23:35 While waiting, I sent messages to my sister in Oregon and even to my former husband, although we hadn't spoken in weeks. 23:42 I contacted anyone who might assure me that I was overreacting. 23:46 Twenty minutes passed before I remembered that the map mentioned Wednesdays in the maintenance closet. It was Monday. That meant someone believed the closet would be unlocked two days later. 23:56 I used my phone to photograph the map and then noticed something else in the upper corner. 24:02 A number seven had been written so faintly that it was almost invisible. 24:07 It was only the number seven written with the same pencil. 24:10 Did it refer to apartment 7? Building 7. 24:14 The complex contained only six buildings. 24:17 I began pacing through the apartment, repeatedly inspecting the locks and looking through the peephole whenever I heard footsteps outside. 24:25 Around 8.40, more trick-or-treaters approached, their voices excited and high-pitched. I didn't answer them. Instead, I sat on the couch with my phone clutched in one hand. 24:36 The unfolded map lay on the coffee table beside a baseball bat I had retrieved from my bedroom closet. 24:42 That was when I heard the sound. It wasn't another knock. It was a slow and purposeful scraping coming from the balcony door, as though someone were dragging a coin or key across the glass. 24:54 The vertical blinds were closed, but through the narrow openings where the slats overlapped, I could see a shadow on the balcony. 25:01 It didn't move, it merely stood there. The security light that ordinarily responded to motion hadn't activated. Whoever was outside had either remained there long enough for the light to shut off, or knew precisely where to stand to avoid the sensor. 25:16 My phone displayed 843. With trembling hands, I dialed 911 again. 25:22 This time, I whispered that someone was standing on my fourth floor balcony. I explained that I lived alone and required immediate help. The dispatcher kept me connected and said officers were already responding. 25:34 Stay away from the door, she instructed. 25:38 Her reassurance felt meaningless when the scraping ceased, and I heard the unmistakable sound of metal against metal. 25:45 Someone was manipulating the lock. The wooden dowel inside the track would prevent the door from sliding, but I had no idea how long it could stop them. 25:54 I grabbed the baseball bat and my car keys, preparing to escape through the front entrance if necessary. Then the shadow shifted. Through the tiny spaces in the blinds, I saw silver material reflecting the light. 26:07 It was the astronaut costume. However, the person wearing it was unquestionably not a child. The shoulders were too wide and the height was entirely wrong. 26:16 The figure had to be nearly six feet tall. 26:19 I watched without moving, despite every instinct demanding that I run. 26:24 The figure raised an object and pressed it against the glass. 26:28 It was a sheet of paper. 26:30 Even behind the blinds, I could distinguish the large block letters written in black marker. 26:35 Seven days. 26:37 Then just as abruptly as the figure had appeared, the shadow withdrew. 26:41 I heard footsteps crossing the balcony above my unit. Then everything became silent. Police officers arrived 12 minutes later. They discovered scuff marks on the balcony railing, recent scratches on the sliding glass door, and muddy footprints leading from the vacant apartment next door. 27:00 The responding officer was a woman named Gutierrez. She appeared exhausted from dealing with Halloween incidents. She photographed everything and completed a report, but both of us understood what the evidence indicated. 27:13 Someone had planned this encounter, observed my routine, and deliberately wanted me to know about it. 27:20 I didn't sleep that night or the following night. Every noise frightened me. The ice maker, my neighbor's cat walking along the fire escape, and the wind shaking the blinds I refused to reopen. 27:32 I called my workplace and reported that I was sick. 27:36 Using a tutorial on YouTube, I installed a doorbell camera. By Wednesday morning, I had also obtained estimates from three different locksmiths. 27:44 Still, I couldn't stop thinking about the maintenance closet, the reference to Wednesday and those seven days. 27:51 On Wednesday afternoon, I parked my car in a section of the lot from which I could observe Building D's maintenance closet. 27:58 At 2.17, a man wearing coveralls approached the closet and opened it with a key from an enormous ring. 28:04 He removed several supplies and left the entrance propped open while repairing a sink in a ground floor apartment. 28:11 Anyone could have entered, photographed the arrangement of keys on the board inside, or possibly created impressions of them. 28:19 The worker remained there for 40 minutes, and the closet stayed open throughout that entire period. When he finally secured it and departed, I sat inside my car trembling. 28:30 I now understood how easily someone could collect information about the property, about me, and about every resident who believed they were protected by locks and chains. 28:40 That Wednesday evening, I packed a bag and drove to a motel 40 miles away. 28:45 I paid with cash and registered under a false name, but I couldn't stop wondering what seven days meant. 28:52 On Monday, November 7th, exactly seven days after Halloween, I returned to inspect my apartment. 28:58 From the outside, the unit appeared untouched. When I opened the door, however, another sheet of paper was resting on the kitchen counter. That should have been impossible because I had checked every lock before leaving. 29:10 This paper contained only one sentence. 29:13 Next year, answer the door faster. 29:16 I moved out during that same week. I terminated my lease and forfeited my security deposit. I didn't care. 29:23 Later, a former neighbor informed me that someone had broken into Unit 2B on November 7th, precisely seven days after Halloween. 29:32 A single mother and her son had moved into the apartment that October. While they were away trick-or-treating, someone had apparently studied their home and then returned a week later. 29:42 Nothing was stolen. However, they discovered maps of the apartment complex inside the child's candy bag. The same intricate drawings and the same carefully written observations. 29:53 The family left the following day. 29:56 By December, six additional apartments were vacant. 29:59 Management of the complex changed in January. 30:03 The new company installed genuine surveillance cameras and hired real security guards to replace the imitation patrol car that had previously circled the property twice each night. Now, no matter where I live, I never purchase Halloween candy. 30:17 I don't answer the door, and every October 31st, I check my locks three times. 30:28 Story 3 October 2017 was supposed to become unforgettable for entirely positive reasons. 30:36 Five of us from state combined our money to rent an old Victorian house approximately 40 minutes away from campus. 30:44 Our plan was to organize the ultimate Halloween weekend party. The property was ideal. 30:50 It had three stories, a wraparound porch, and the kind of creaking wooden floors that created an eerie atmosphere without requiring any decorations. 30:59 My roommate Blake discovered the listing on a rental website. The house was remarkably inexpensive for a three-night weekend because the owner primarily wanted someone staying there while he traveled. 31:10 He left the keys beneath a ceramic frog beside the front door and told us that we could invite as many guests as we wanted, provided that nobody damaged the property. 31:20 Blake and I arrived Friday afternoon with our friends Trevor and Carlos, along with Josh, a student from our economics class who always brought excellent speakers to parties. 31:31 The basement light began malfunctioning that first evening, before anyone else had even arrived for Saturday's celebration. 31:38 We were carrying cases of beer down the narrow wooden steps when the single bulb at the bottom suddenly illuminated. 31:45 It cast light across a damp concrete space with a low ceiling and stone walls that look considerably older than the remainder of the house. 31:53 Trevor repeatedly joked that we had accidentally rented a haunted home. 31:58 Whenever the light came on, he used a terrible ghost voice. 32:01 Carlos, whose father was an electrician, explained that old houses behaved that way all the time. 32:07 Vibrations from our footsteps were probably disturbing a loose electrical connection somewhere behind the walls. 32:14 That explanation seemed reasonable to me. The basement was mostly empty anyway. 32:19 Several rusty lawn chairs had been piled in one corner, and the water heater produced groaning noises as though it might fail at any moment. 32:27 We stored the additional beer downstairs and mostly forgot about the problem. However, when I went to the garage for ice around midnight, I noticed that the basement light had switched on again. 32:38 Guests began arriving at approximately 3 o'clock on Saturday afternoon. 32:42 By 6 o'clock, close to 50 people were crowded inside the property. The music played so loudly that the windows shook inside their frames. Everyone wore costumes. Zombies performed keg stands in the kitchen. 32:56 A group dressed as characters from Stranger Things occupied the living room. 33:01 Katie, a student from my statistics class, arrived in an extraordinarily detailed Plague Doctor costume, complete with a long-beaked mask. 33:10 The party unfolded exactly as we had imagined. People wandered across all three levels, exploring the old house and posing for photographs on the Gothic staircase. 33:20 Blake had hung orange lights throughout every room and placed imitation cobwebs across each doorway. 33:26 Around 9 o'clock, when the gathering had become truly chaotic, Josh mentioned that the basement light was behaving strangely again. 33:35 Instead of randomly turning on, it was now flashing repeatedly. 33:39 We dismissed it with laughter and assumed the bass from the speakers had loosened something downstairs. 33:45 Katie was the first person to disappear, although we didn't realize she was missing until considerably later. 33:52 Her roommate Melissa found me in the kitchen around 11 o'clock and asked whether I had seen her. 33:57 She said Katie had left to search for a bathroom approximately one hour earlier and had never returned. 34:03 With so many people packed inside the building, I assumed Katie had become involved in a conversation or stepped outside for fresh air. 34:12 The house had grown extremely stuffy with all those bodies pressed together. 34:16 Melissa was still worried. She kept explaining that disappearing without saying anything was completely unlike Katie, especially because they had driven there together. 34:26 We performed a quick search of the main floors, inspected the bathrooms, and even checked the porch, where several guests were smoking and sharing a bottle of whiskey. 34:36 Nobody had seen Katie recently. Josh suggested that perhaps she had become ill and was resting in one of the bedrooms upstairs. 34:44 Melissa went to search those rooms while I returned to the dining room to continue managing the beer pong tournament. 34:50 The electricity failed shortly after midnight. 34:53 One moment, music was pounding through the house. The next, the building was silent and dark except for the confused shouting of the guests. 35:01 The abrupt silence was nearly more frightening than the loss of light. 35:05 Someone said the entire block had experienced an outage, but when I stumbled toward a window, I could see lights glowing inside houses farther down the street. 35:15 Only our property had lost electricity. Blake activated the flashlight on his phone and navigated toward the kitchen, where he remembered seeing a breaker panel earlier. 35:25 Most people initially believed the blackout was part of the party, some intentional Halloween effect. 35:31 After approximately 10 minutes without electricity, however, the atmosphere changed. 35:36 Guests began departing, using their phone lights to find their way toward their vehicles. That was when Trevor observed something unusual. 35:44 The basement light remained on. 35:47 It wasn't blinking or flashing. It shone steadily from downstairs while every other part of the house remained dark. 35:54 Carlos descended to investigate, believing there might be a separate circuit breaker below that he could reset. 36:01 He was gone for approximately five minutes. When he returned, all the color had vanished from his face. even beneath the faint light from our phones. 36:11 The basement floor wasn't entirely solid concrete as we had assumed. Carlos had noticed something different when he went downstairs. In the farthest corner, partly concealed behind the water heater, a portion of the floor was actually constructed from plywood that had been painted to resemble concrete. 36:28 He pressed it with his foot and the panel shifted, exposing darkness underneath. 36:33 All five of us descended together, using our phone flashlights to illuminate the confined basement. 36:39 The plywood section measured approximately three feet by three feet. When Blake pulled it completely aside, we uncovered a narrow opening with a wooden ladder descending into what seemed to be another room beneath the basement. 36:51 The odor rising from that opening was overwhelming, It smelled of body odor decomposing food and something else, something stale and diseased. 37:02 Trevor directed his flashlight into the darkness. 37:05 We could see sleeping bags, empty food packages, and bottles filled with a liquid that appeared to be urine. 37:12 Someone had been living underneath the property. That person had probably been present throughout the entire time we prepared for the party. They had been below us while we repeatedly carried cases of beer past the concealed entrance. 37:25 Josh noticed the camera first. It was tiny and almost impossible to see, installed in a corner of the underground room. 37:33 Wires ran from it through a hole drilled into the floor joists. 37:37 The cables vanished into the walls. 37:40 As we followed their path visually, we realized they probably connected to the basement light. 37:45 That was what had been activating it. The system used a motion sensor. Whenever somebody crossed the living room overhead, the movement caused the basement light to illuminate. 37:56 Whoever occupied the chamber had been observing us and monitoring our movements throughout the house. 38:01 Blake began shouting at everybody to leave. 38:04 Get out. Get out right now. 38:07 Trevor called 911. The dispatcher repeatedly told him to slow down and clearly explain what we had discovered. 38:14 But how could anyone calmly explain something like that? 38:18 Perhaps 20 guests remained in the building by then. 38:21 All of them were intoxicated and confused, stumbling through the darkness while attempting to understand why we were screaming for them to evacuate. 38:29 Melissa was crying and continuing to ask about Katie. That was when genuine panic took hold of me. What if Katie hadn't simply wandered away? 38:39 What if the person living beneath the house had taken her? 38:42 Police arrived within 15 minutes, although the wait seemed to last for hours. 38:47 Four patrol vehicles came first, followed by several others. 38:51 Officers removed everyone from the building, recorded our names, and began processing what they described as a crime scene. 38:59 The detective who interviewed me was Diane Fowler, a woman with prematurely gray hair and piercing blue eyes. 39:06 She continually questioned me about the timeline. When had we arrived? When did we initially notice the light? 39:13 When had Katie disappeared? 39:15 Police brought large floodlights and generators, illuminating the entire basement as brightly as daytime. 39:22 From the front yard, I watched two officers descend into the concealed space. One of them climbed back out rapidly, his radio crackling. 39:31 Within minutes, they were requesting additional officers and a forensic unit. 39:35 Detective Fowler refused to reveal what investigators had found. She only repeated that it was an active investigation. 39:43 However, I overheard a younger officer mention photographs attached to the walls underground. There were dozens of them. Every image had been taken from the same perspective as the concealed camera, showing people inside the living room who had no idea they were being observed. 40:00 Police located Katie around 4 o'clock in the morning. She was alive, thank God, but barely conscious. 40:07 She had been concealed inside a secondary crawl space branching away from the principal hidden room. 40:13 It was essentially a tight tunnel that extended beneath the foundation toward the rear of the house. Someone had drugged her. 40:20 The police never told us precisely what substance had been used, but Katie couldn't recall anything after descending the stairs while searching for the bathroom. 40:29 The bathroom door stood immediately beside the basement entrance. 40:33 Inside the crowded, darkened house, she must have opened the wrong door. Whoever was waiting below had seized her the moment she entered the basement. 40:41 What disturbed me most was thinking about how patiently the person had waited. 40:46 He had probably watched us through that camera all day. He had observed the celebration growing and watched everyone become progressively more intoxicated and careless. 40:56 When the proper opportunity arrived, he acted. Based on the arrangement underground, including the food supplies, the makeshift toilet, and the battery packs connected to the camera, police believed the person had occupied the chamber for at least two weeks, perhaps longer. 41:13 The man they arrested was Walter Grayson. He was 43 years old and had possessed no permanent address for the preceding five years. 41:22 Detective Fowler called me on Monday morning and explained that officers had captured Grayson while he attempted to re-enter the house on Sunday night. 41:30 It was as though he believed he could simply return to his concealed room despite everything that had happened. 41:35 Grayson had rented space in the property eight years earlier, back when the building had been divided into individual apartments. 41:42 He had apparently duplicated the keys and discovered the crawl space while performing his own repairs because the landlord refused to address the problems. 41:51 After being evicted for failing to pay rent, Grayson developed a routine. 41:56 He waited until the house had been rented for a short period and then moved into the hidden chamber while tourists or temporary occupants stayed there. 42:04 He entered the main residence while they were working or away during the day. lived underneath them, and departed before the permanent residents returned. 42:13 Weekend rentals were ideal because visitors didn't know the property well enough to recognize anything unusual. 42:19 Grayson knew about our celebration because he had been observing us since we began preparing on Friday. 42:25 He was probably excited by all the potential victims, people who might become too intoxicated to defend themselves or even clearly remember what had happened. 42:35 What continues to haunt me most is something Detective Fowler revealed during a follow-up interview. 42:40 Investigators discovered years worth of journals in the hidden room. 42:45 In them, Grayson had documented every person who stayed in the house. 42:49 He memorized their routines, when they showered, when they slept, and what they watched on television. 42:56 He wrote about listening to the sound of their footsteps overhead and claimed he could distinguish different individuals solely by the way they walked. 43:05 Some entries described how he slipped upstairs while residents were sleeping, stood inside their bedrooms, and stole small belongings they would probably never realize were missing. 43:15 A single sock, a pen, a phone charger. 43:20 In his journal, he called the practice collecting lives. 43:23 Katie was supposed to become his most daring collection. someone seized directly from the center of a crowded party. 43:30 Police identified 14 additional missing person cases that corresponded with Grayson's timeline in the property's rental records, although they couldn't prove his involvement in anything other than Katie's abduction. 43:43 Some of those missing people had probably simply left voluntarily. However, authorities reopened the cases of individuals who had disappeared without their vehicles or wallets. 43:53 Each of us dealt with the aftermath differently. 43:57 Blake withdrew from school for one semester because he couldn't tolerate enclosed areas. 44:02 Treville became obsessed with examining every corner of every room he entered. 44:06 He lifted ceiling panels and searched behind water heaters. 44:10 Carlos devoted himself entirely to his studies but stopped participating in social events. 44:16 Josh refused to discuss the experience and completely closed off that portion of his memory. 44:21 I graduated that December. I was born in 1995 and by then I had accumulated enough credits to finish ahead of schedule. 44:30 I relocated to Colorado and accepted a job in property management with a hotel chain. 44:36 Now I inspect every rental property, truly inspect it, because I understand what people refuse to believe until it is already too late. 44:45 Sometimes genuine horror has nothing to do with ghosts, demons, or anything supernatural. 44:51 Sometimes it is simply a human being living three feet underneath you, listening to every step and waiting for the perfect opportunity to make you part of his collection. 45:00 Katie recovered physically but never returned to school. 45:04 The last information I received from Melissa was that Katie had moved in with her parents in Arizona. 45:09 She attended therapy twice each week and slept with three locks secured on her bedroom door. 45:15 The Victorian house was demolished six months later. 45:18 The owner claimed the demolition was part of a renovation, but I believe he understood that nobody would ever rent the property again after the story became public. 45:27 A parking lot occupies the location now. It is completely level and covered in pavement, as though those concealed chambers had never existed. 45:41 Story 4. 45:43 I was 41 that Halloween, stretching strands of orange lights between the Thompson's mailbox and my own, while Ben shouted instructions from his garage across the street. 45:53 For six consecutive years, we had transformed Willow Court into our personal haunted attraction. 46:00 It began when my daughter turned 11 and begged us to create something special for the children in the neighborhood. 46:06 The cul-de-sac provided the perfect location, seven houses forming a natural dead end, with a wooded area behind them that gave us an eerie background without costing anything. 46:17 Ben managed the technical side, attaching speakers to trees and installing motion sensors. 46:23 I organized the volunteers, most of whom were high school drama students eager to complete their required community service hours. 46:30 That morning in 2016, I received 37 text messages from parents confirming that their children would participate. 46:38 I also received a voicemail from a man with a gravelly voice who said he had heard about our event and wanted to help. 46:45 The way he pronounced the word help stayed with me. 46:49 He drew it out, almost as though he were tasting it. 46:53 The call had come through my landline, which should have seemed suspicious because our request for volunteers had only been posted in the neighborhood Facebook group, along with my cell phone number. 47:03 The man explained that his nephew lived nearby and had mentioned that we might need an additional volunteer, particularly for the final scene we had been struggling to cast. 47:13 Ben's brother had cancelled at the last minute. 47:15 He was supposed to portray the chainsaw killer who would chase children toward the candy station. 47:21 I was desperate enough for a replacement that when the stranger volunteered, I immediately accepted. 47:27 He claimed to own a professional quality costume from the period when he had worked at a haunted attraction in Pennsylvania. 47:33 He also preferred to remain in character throughout the entire evening because he believed it would make the experience more convincing. 47:40 When I requested his name for the volunteer list, he remained silent for approximately three seconds. 47:47 Just call him Tom, he finally answered. 47:51 Something about that hesitation bothered me. It sounded as if he had been deciding which name to provide. 47:57 I gave him the address and instructed him to arrive at seven o'clock when the attraction opened to the public. 48:04 Afterward, I felt an enormous wave of relief mixed with another emotion I couldn't identify at the time. 48:10 At approximately 6.30, while the sun descended behind the tree line and cast long shadows across the road, I saw him approaching from the direction of the main street. 48:19 Nobody had driven him there. He simply appeared at the entrance to the cul-de-sac, carrying an old military surplus duffel bag. 48:27 It was olive green with brass buckles and looked as though it might have actually been taken into combat. 48:34 He wore ordinary clothing, jeans and a plain gray hoodie. The hood covered his head despite the temperature being around 65 degrees. 48:42 His pace was deliberate. He wasn't walking slowly exactly, but every step seemed carefully measured and planned. 48:49 My neighbor Gloria was preparing her witch's cauldron with dry ice. She waved when he passed, but he didn't acknowledge her. 48:57 He continued directly toward the staging area inside Ben's garage. I assumed he was concentrating on getting into character early. 49:05 After he passed, however, Gloria looked at me with raised eyebrows that clearly asked, What's his problem? 49:11 I shrugged. What could I say? 49:14 The man was doing us a favor, wasn't he? 49:17 When Tom entered the garage, he didn't introduce himself. He neither shook hands nor attempted to speak with the other volunteers, who were applying costumes and testing their props. 49:28 He selected a corner near the rear of the garage, placed the duffel bag on the floor, and began removing his costume one item at a time. 49:36 His movements were exact and almost ceremonial. He took out the mask first. Even from the opposite side of the garage I could tell it wasn't an inexpensive rubber mask from a Halloween store. It appeared to be made from heavy latex or silicone, painted in numerous layers to resemble diseased, decomposing flesh. 49:56 The scars and wounds possessed genuine depth, and glass eyes reflected the light in a profoundly unsettling manner. 50:03 Next came the coveralls. They were covered with stains resembling authentic dried blood. Not the bright red corn syrup we used, but dark brown marks with a stiff crusted texture. 50:14 The coveralls fit him flawlessly, almost as though someone had tailored them specifically for his body. 50:20 He changed in the corner without requesting any privacy. Beneath his everyday clothing, he was already wearing a black base layer, which made it seem as if he had been preparing for hours before arriving. 50:32 The chainsaw was the final object he removed from the bag. 50:36 It made Ben stop working and stare. 50:38 It was an orange and gray Husqvarna, the type used by professional loggers, not the plastic imitation we had purchased from a party store. Although Tom had removed the chain, the exposed guide bar gleamed beneath the garage lights. 50:53 The machine still appeared capable of killing someone. 50:56 Ben started walking toward him, probably intending to explain that our insurance prohibited the use of a genuine chainsaw. 51:04 Without even looking at Ben, Tom raised one finger. 51:07 Somehow that single motion made Ben stop halfway across the garage. 51:12 Tom poured a liquid that smelled like real gasoline into the fuel tank. When he pulled the starter cord, the motor erupted with a low guttural roar that vibrated through the garage floor and caused everyone to turn toward him. 51:25 He revved the engine once and then a second time. 51:28 The sound was so authentic and violent that it made my teeth ache. Then he switched it off and stood before us in his complete costume, transformed into something that had no place in our quiet suburban community. 51:41 Ryan, one of the teenage volunteers who had been applying zombie makeup, actually stepped backward. 51:47 Seven o'clock arrived quickly, along with the first groups of children. 51:51 Young kids came with their parents, dressed as princesses and superheroes and carrying plastic pumpkin buckets or pillowcases for their candy. 52:00 Without anyone explaining where he belonged, Tom had already positioned himself at the end of the trail. 52:06 It was almost as though he had examined our arrangement in advance. 52:10 From my location near the entrance where I conducted safety checks and controlled the crowd, I heard his chainsaw start every few minutes. 52:17 Screams always followed. They sounded genuinely terrified rather than playfully frightened. 52:24 After approximately the 10th group passed through, Ben pulled me aside. 52:28 Maybe we should see how Tom is doing, he suggested. We need to make sure he understands that this is a family event, not an adults-only extreme haunted attraction. 52:38 At that moment, however, I was dealing with a mother whose four-year-old was too frightened to enter the trail. 52:44 By the time I finished helping her, Ben had become occupied with a blown fuse in one of our lighting displays. 52:50 Neither of us reached Tom's station in time to prevent what happened next. 52:54 The Anderson family raised the first genuine alarm. 52:58 This wasn't a mild complaint that Tom was behaving too intensely. They were truly panicking. 53:04 All four family members ran through the exit. Mr. Anderson carried his 12-year-old daughter, Sophia, who was hyperventilating so severely that her lips had begun turning blue. 53:15 Mrs. Anderson clutched their younger son against her chest. His Spider-Man mask had torn and hung loosely around his neck. 53:23 He grabbed her, she kept repeating. He actually grabbed her. 53:28 At the same time, Mr. Anderson shouted for someone to call 911. 53:32 I hurried over with the first aid kit we always kept nearby for scraped knees and similar injuries. 53:38 Ben attempted to calm the family enough to understand what had occurred. Between Sophia's gasping sobs and her parents' overlapping descriptions, we managed to reconstruct the incident. 53:49 Tom hadn't remained at his assigned location at the end of the trail. Instead, he followed the Andersons through the wooded section, moving closer every time they turned. 53:59 When the family attempted to leave through the candy station, Tom reached forward, seized Sophia by the wrist, and pulled her backward toward the trees. 54:07 He released her only after her father turned around and shoved him hard enough to knock him down. 54:13 Ben and I exchanged the kind of look people share when they simultaneously realize they have made a terrible mistake. 54:19 Then we ran toward the rear of the trail. 54:22 The path was narrow and twisting, bordered by thick overgrown bushes through which we had woven lights. 54:29 As we forced our way around confused parents and children, I heard the chainsaw roaring somewhere ahead. 54:35 I couldn't determine its precise location. 54:38 The noise reflected from the trees and houses, creating a disorienting echo that seemed to originate from every direction simultaneously. 54:47 When we reached Tom's assigned station, It was deserted. Only the artificial cemetery remained, complete with foam tombstones and a plywood facade. 54:57 Fresh boot prints marked the mulch, leading away from the designated path and into the real woods. 55:02 That was when we heard Lucy Kim scream. 55:05 Lucy was one of our teenage volunteers and had been portraying a ghost bride. 55:10 It wasn't the theatrical scream she had rehearsed. 55:13 This cry was raw, desperate, and real. 55:16 The sound sliced through the night like shattered glass. It came from deeper inside the woods, beyond the area where the trail was supposed to end. 55:25 We had specifically blocked that section with caution tape and signs reading, Do Not Enter, because the terrain descended into a ravine approximately 50 yards inside. 55:36 Ben and I crashed through the undergrowth while branches caught on our clothing. Ben repeatedly shouted Lucy's name. 55:43 I attempted to dial 911, but my fingers were trembling so violently that I kept pressing the wrong numbers. 55:50 The chainsaw had become silent. 55:53 Somehow that silence was even worse than the engine's roar. 55:56 Then we saw them. 55:58 Lucy stood with her back against an enormous oak tree. 56:01 Her white costume dress was caught on the bark, and mascara streamed down her cheeks in black lines. 56:07 Tom stood approximately ten feet away. He was perfectly motionless, with his head tilted at an unnatural angle, as though he were examining a specimen. 56:17 Moonlight passed between the branches and struck his mask at exactly the right angle, causing its glass eyes to shine like wet stones. 56:25 He held something in his left hand, although I couldn't identify it at first. When Lucy saw us, she attempted to run in our direction. Tom moved faster than seemed possible. In two rapid strides, he closed the distance, grabbed her by the hair and violently pulled her backward. 56:42 Lucy cried out. That was when I recognized the object in his other hand. 56:47 It was a heavy-duty zip tie of the kind used by police, already arranged into a loop. 56:53 Ben didn't hesitate. 56:55 He picked up a fallen branch approximately as thick as a baseball bat and charged at Tom, swinging it as if attempting to hit a home run. 57:04 The branch struck Tom's shoulder with a sickening thud. Tom released Lucy, and she crawled toward me on her hands and knees, sobbing so forcefully that she began choking on her own breath. 57:15 Tom turned toward Ben. 57:17 Even behind the grotesque mask, I sensed a change in his posture, like an animal deciding whether to attack or escape. 57:25 Ben screamed at him, demanding to know what the hell was wrong with him. 57:30 Didn't he understand that this was only a Halloween attraction? 57:34 Children and families were everywhere. 57:36 Tom didn't answer. He simply stood there, breathing heavily through the mask. The chainsaw remained on the ground where he had placed it. Its engine completely shut off. 57:47 Then we heard sirens. Someone had already contacted the police. Probably Mr. Anderson. 57:54 Tom's head snapped toward the noise. He looked at us one final time. 57:59 I swear I could feel him memorizing our faces through those glass eyes. 58:03 Then he turned and fled deeper into the forest. He moved between the trees as though he knew precisely where he was going. almost as if he had mapped an escape route beforehand. 58:14 Police arrived within minutes. 58:16 Flashing emergency lights and radio chatter filled our normally peaceful street, transforming the Halloween attraction into a crime scene. 58:24 Officers immediately closed the entire event. They assembled the remaining volunteers and families in the Thompson's front yard to take statements while K-9 units entered the forest in pursuit of Tom. 58:37 Although Lucy insisted that she was unharmed, an ambulance transported her away. The EMT said she was experiencing shock and needed to be examined at the hospital. Her parents followed in their car. Both appeared to have aged 10 years in 10 minutes. 58:52 The lead detective was a woman named Reeves, with short gray hair and weary eyes. 58:57 She questioned me for more than an hour about the telephone call, how I had located Tom, and what information he had provided. 59:05 I became physically sick as I realized how little I knew about the man I had permitted to approach all those children. 59:11 I possessed only a first name that probably wasn't genuine, an imprecise reference to Pennsylvania, and the memory of his gravelly voice saying that he wanted to help. 59:21 The guilt rested inside my chest like a frozen stone. 59:25 It became even heavier when Detective Reeves asked why I hadn't conducted a background check, requested identification, or completed any of the basic precautions that now seemed painfully obvious. 59:37 Police discovered Tom's mask and coveralls approximately a quarter mile inside the forest. He had discarded them near the edge of the ravine, along with the military duffel bag. 59:47 Tom himself had disappeared. 59:50 The police dogs lost his scent at a creek flowing along the bottom of the ravine. 59:55 Helicopters continued searching until sunrise, but no trace of him was found. 60:00 Inside the duffel bag, investigators discovered additional zip ties, a roll of duct tape, a hunting knife with a seven-inch blade, and a bottle of chloroform. 60:11 Real chloroform. These weren't theatrical supplies or costume accessories. They were tools intended for something far more sinister than frightening children on Halloween. 60:22 Police also recovered a spiral notebook containing what appeared to be surveillance records. It listed our addresses and included an intricate drawing of the cul-de-sac. 60:31 It documented the times different residents departed for work, identified which houses had dogs, noted which properties possessed security cameras, and contained a list of names. 60:43 Every person named was a teenage volunteer from our attraction. 60:47 Three names had stars beside them. Lucy Kim was one of those three. The police refused to reveal what else the notebook contained. 60:56 They repeatedly asked whether we had noticed anyone observing the neighborhood during the weeks before Halloween, or whether any teenagers had mentioned feeling followed or uncomfortable. 61:06 Our answer was no. We hadn't noticed anything. 61:10 We had been too occupied with planning our harmless neighborhood Halloween trail to recognize that a predator had been making plans of his own. 61:22 Story 5. 61:24 October has always been the month I love most. That is probably because my birthday comes immediately before Halloween, giving me two reasons to celebrate. 61:34 I had turned 31 only the previous week. 61:37 Living in Millbrook meant participating in all the small town customs that made you feel connected to something larger and more wholesome. 61:45 Every October, our neighborhood secretly placed small bags of treats on people's porches. Each bag included a note reading, You've Been Sweet. 61:54 It was similar to a chain letter, except it was genuinely enjoyable. The rules were uncomplicated. 62:01 After dark, you quietly approached someone's porch, left a bag behind, rang the bell, and ran as fast as possible before the resident could identify you. 62:11 That person would then repeat the gesture for someone else. By Halloween night, almost everyone in the neighborhood had received at least one unexpected gift. 62:19 I had participated every year for six years, ever since moving there after college. 62:25 Honestly, the excitement of sneaking around at night while carrying candy never became boring. 62:31 That particular Monday evening offered ideal conditions for continuing the tradition. 62:36 The autumn air was crisp, fallen leaves cracked beneath my shoes, and the moon provided just enough illumination to walk without carrying a flashlight. 62:45 I had spent the afternoon preparing 12 treat bags, each contained expensive caramels from the boutique candy store downtown, miniature chocolate bars, and homemade pumpkin-shaped sugar cookies that I had remained awake until midnight decorating the previous evening. 63:01 The Richardsons, who lived farther down the street, had recently welcomed their first grandchild for a visit, so I prepared an especially large bag for them. 63:10 Old Henry lived by himself in the corner house and always behaved as though he were irritable. 63:16 However, I knew he secretly enjoyed the surprises. 63:19 The previous year, I had seen that he kept every, you've been sweet. 63:23 Note inside a small box on his mantle. At approximately 8.30, I placed all the bags inside my canvas tote, put on my black hoodie, essential clothing for sneaking onto porches, and began walking through the neighborhood. 63:39 The streets were peaceful except for an occasional barking dog and the distant laughter from television programs drifting through windows. 63:46 Completing my route took approximately an hour and a half. I hid behind bushes, carefully timed each doorbell ring, and sprinted away while attempting not to laugh as confused voices called after me. Hello? Who's there? 64:00 The Andersons' golden retriever nearly exposed me when he recognized me through their front window and began barking excitedly, despite my stealthy clothing. 64:10 Fortunately, I escaped before anyone came outside to investigate. 64:14 By the time I reached my final destination, the Nuance house at the end of Birch Drive, my legs burned from running and my face ached from smiling. 64:23 The mission was complete. I walked home with the special satisfaction that comes from anonymously doing something thoughtful for other people. 64:31 The return trip somehow felt shorter. Perhaps that was because I was already imagining everyone's reactions when they opened their doors the following morning and discovered the treats I had left. 64:42 My small rental house welcomed me with its familiar creaking porch steps. The jack-o'-lantern I had carved three nights earlier continued to glow cheerfully inside the window. 64:52 I had just settled down with leftover cookie dough and a cup of chamomile tea when I heard it. 64:57 Footsteps crossed my porch. Then the doorbell rang once, sounding sharp and unmistakable in the silent night. 65:05 My first thought was that someone had spotted me during my deliveries and decided to return the favor immediately. 65:11 That would have been rather sweet. 65:13 I opened the door, expecting to see a neighbor running away. Instead, the porch was completely deserted. 65:19 A single treat bag sat perfectly centered on my welcome mat. It looked almost identical to the bags I had assembled. The same brown paper and the same black and orange ribbons. 65:30 However, it felt unusually heavy when I picked it up. 65:33 Inside I found expensive looking chocolates that I didn't recognize, wrapped in gold foil, along with what appeared to be pieces of homemade toffee. 65:43 A note written in careful handwriting said, You've been sweet. 65:48 Nothing about that seemed particularly strange, but beneath the candy I discovered something that stopped me from breathing for a moment. 65:55 It was a photograph printed on ordinary computer paper. 65:59 The picture showed me earlier that same night, holding my canvas bag as I approached the Richardson's porch. 66:06 It had been taken from the opposite side of the street, probably with a phone judging by the image quality. 66:12 I was captured mid-stride, with my hood raised, clearly attempting to remain unseen. 66:17 Initially I laughed. Someone had committed fully to the joke and followed me to document my secret candy deliveries. Perhaps the Richardsons had done it, or maybe their teenage son who had returned home from college. 66:31 I even wrote about it in the neighborhood Facebook group, joking that I had acquired a secret admirer with photographic talent and asking which clever prankster was responsible. 66:42 People responded with laughing emojis and suggested various neighbors who were known for their humor. 66:48 I went to sleep believing the entire prank was creative and already considering how I could surpass it the following year. 66:55 Then Wednesday evening arrived. My doorbell rang again at exactly the same time. 8.43. 67:02 I noticed because I had been watching the clock, half expecting another incident. 67:07 This time I rushed toward the entrance, determined to catch whoever was responsible. 67:12 Once again, the porch was empty. 67:15 Another treat bag occupied precisely the same place. Its contents were similar. Premium chocolates, homemade candy, and the familiar note. 67:25 The photograph concealed underneath, however, made my throat go dry. 67:29 It showed me inside my house on the previous evening. Someone had taken the picture through my living room window. 67:36 I was clearly visible sitting on the couch, studying the first photograph, with the nearby lamp illuminating my face. Based on the angle, the photographer had been standing in my side yard, probably directly beside the hydrangea bushes I planted during the spring. 67:51 The image bore a timestamp of 9-17. 67:55 That meant someone had remained outside, observing my reaction to the first delivery. 68:00 I immediately examined the windows and closed every curtain with trembling hands. 68:05 Then I called my friend Amanda, who lived two streets away. 68:09 She arrived immediately with her husband, Brett. They spent an hour helping me examine the property for evidence that someone had been there. 68:17 Brett discovered footprints in the mulch beneath the living room window. 68:21 Judging by their size, they had been made by men's shoes in approximately a size 10 or 11. The soles displayed a distinctive waffle-shaped pattern. 68:30 Amanda recommended contacting the police. But what could I tell them? 68:35 Someone had delivered candy and photographs as part of what could still be an elaborate Halloween joke. 68:41 The local officers would probably dismiss it, particularly Officer Mills, who was notorious for telling residents to stop acting paranoid whenever they reported anything suspicious. 68:52 Instead, Brett helped me install the motion-activated light I had intended to put up for several months. He positioned it to illuminate the entire side yard. 69:01 Amanda remained with me that night and slept in the guest room. We checked every lock twice and moved a bookcase in front of the rear sliding glass door as an additional precaution. 69:11 We also created a plan for the next evening. I would send Amanda a text message every hour. If I failed to respond within 10 minutes, she would come to my house immediately. 69:22 The entire situation seemed unreal, as though we were reacting too strongly. 69:28 Yet every time I closed my eyes, I saw that picture of myself sitting inside my living room. 69:33 The following day at work, I couldn't concentrate on anything. 69:37 I managed the accounts for a dental practice downtown. 69:40 Every patient who entered seemed suspicious. Every delivery worker could have been the photographer. 69:46 I continually examined people's shoes, searching for the waffle-shaped tread pattern Brett had described. 69:52 My co-worker Stacy repeatedly asked whether I was feeling well, probably because I jumped each time the entrance bell chimed. 70:00 By that afternoon, I had convinced myself that the photographer had to be someone from the neighborhood, someone familiar with our yearly tradition who had taken the joke much too far. 70:11 I mentally assembled a list of possible suspects. 70:14 Perhaps it was Craig, who lived two houses away and had behaved strangely since his divorce. 70:20 It could have been the new couple who arrived the previous month and rarely spoke with anyone. 70:25 Or perhaps the college students renting the house on Oak Street were responsible. They constantly played pranks. 70:32 None of those possibilities truly made sense. The behavior was too calculated and patient. When evening arrived, I nearly refused to return home. 70:42 I remained inside my car in the office parking lot until well after 7 o'clock, dreading whatever might be waiting at my house. 70:50 Amanda met me there, and we approached the front entrance as if we were attempting to defuse an explosive device. 70:56 As expected, another bag was waiting. It occupied the same location and had been presented in exactly the same manner. 71:04 This time, however, we had prepared ourselves. 71:07 The recently installed motion light had activated, and Brett had placed his hunting camera inside bushes across the street. 71:14 It was designed to photograph anything that triggered its movement sensor. We were finally going to identify the person, but when I opened the bag with unsteady hands, the enclosed photograph made me feel as though I might vomit. 71:28 It showed me inside my bedroom the previous night while I prepared for bed. 71:33 The picture had been taken through my second floor bedroom window. Based on the angle, the photographer had either used a ladder or climbed the enormous oak tree in my backyard, whose branches extended toward the window. 71:45 The photograph captured me in the middle of removing my shirt, completely unaware that someone was observing me. 71:52 Its timestamp read 1123. That was at least one hour after Amanda and I had conducted our final inspection of the yard. 72:00 The photographer had been outside while both of us were inside the house believing we were protected. 72:06 This time we immediately called the police. 72:09 Two officers arrived within 20 minutes. 72:12 Thankfully, Officer Mills wasn't one of them. They collected the photographs, searched the treat bag for fingerprints, and examined the property using flashlights. 72:21 One officer, a younger man named Officer Daniels, discovered fresh damage on the bark of the oak tree. 72:28 Someone had unquestionably climbed it recently. 72:31 After observing the progression from a street photograph to a window photograph and then to an image inside my bedroom, the officers treated the situation seriously. 72:41 Officer Daniels advised me to remain somewhere else for several nights while police increased their patrols throughout the neighborhood. 72:49 Amanda refused to let me object. I was going to sleep at her house beginning immediately. 72:54 We packed a bag as quickly as possible. 72:58 I grabbed random pieces of clothing while repeatedly glancing toward the windows, expecting to see a face staring inside. 73:05 Brett arrived to help load my car and discovered something that caused all three of us to become silent. 73:11 Fresh footprints marked the ground beneath my bedroom window. They displayed the same waffle-shaped pattern, but this time they traveled in a direct line to and from the oak tree. 73:21 It seemed as though the person responsible no longer cared about concealing the route. 73:26 I barely slept that night at Amanda's house. I repeatedly reviewed every interaction I had experienced during the preceding weeks, attempting to determine who might be responsible. 73:37 At approximately three o'clock in the morning, Amanda's phone rang. Officer Daniels was calling. Police had caught someone carrying a camera in my backyard while attempting to climb the oak tree again. 73:49 My entire body became numb as Daniels explained that the suspect was in custody. 73:54 He asked whether I could visit the police station the following morning to identify several objects officers had recovered. 74:00 Amanda and I arrived at precisely 8 o'clock. 74:04 I expected the suspect to be Craig or perhaps one of the college students. 74:08 I had even prepared myself for the possibility that it might be somebody I had never considered. 74:14 But when Officer Daniels showed me the driver's license taken from the man, I didn't recognize him at all. 74:20 His name was Matthew Garrison. 74:22 He was 43 years old and lived two towns away. 74:26 His face was completely unfamiliar. He was simply an average-looking man with thinning hair and wire-rimmed glasses, the sort of person you could pass in a supermarket without looking at twice. 74:38 Officer Daniels explained that Garrison had been carrying a camera equipped with a telephoto lens. He also possessed a folder containing dozens of photographs of me taken over the previous three weeks and a notebook documenting my daily schedule in disturbing detail. 74:54 The true shock came when officers explained how he had discovered me. 74:58 Garrison worked at the downtown candy store, the same boutique where I had purchased caramels from my treat bags for years. He had monitored my purchases and overheard me discussing the neighborhood tradition with the store's owner. 75:11 Apparently, he had been organizing the entire plan since the beginning of October. 75:16 One day after I purchased supplies, he followed me home and learned my address. From that point onward, he observed me and memorized my routines, waiting for an ideal opportunity to insert himself into the Halloween custom. 75:29 Police discovered his vehicle parked three blocks from my house. 75:33 Inside they found additional surveillance equipment, including night vision goggles and a police scanner he had used to determine when patrol cars would enter the neighborhood. 75:42 During questioning Garrison said he believed we shared a connection because I always smiled while purchasing candy. 75:49 He claimed the tradition belonged to both of us and that he wanted to participate in it. 75:53 The detective explained that stalkers often construct elaborate fantasies around their victims based on the smallest encounters. They transform routine customer service friendliness into a relationship that never existed. 76:07 Authorities charged garrison with stalking, trespassing, and voyeurism. 76:11 I obtained a restraining order that same day. Three months have passed since then. 76:17 Garrison accepted a plea agreement requiring 18 months in jail and mandatory psychological counseling. 76:23 He is also forbidden from coming within 500 feet of me or my neighborhood. 76:28 I relocated to another rental property on the opposite side of town. 76:33 It has stronger security and no large trees near its windows. 76:37 The most difficult part wasn't moving or even the fear that remained for weeks afterward. It was losing something I had sincerely loved. 76:45 Amanda told me that our former neighborhood continued the treat bag tradition this past Halloween. I couldn't bring myself to participate. I can no longer enter a candy store without first examining the person behind the counter. 76:58 I also close every curtain as soon as darkness falls. 77:02 My therapist says the fear will diminish with time. 77:05 Eventually I may learn to separate what happened from the innocent custom garrison corrupted. Perhaps she is correct. For now, however, October feels different. Somehow darker and heavier. 77:17 Recently I saw the same premium caramels I used to purchase while shopping at the grocery store. 77:23 I stood before them for an entire minute, remembering how something so innocent and sweet had been distorted into an experience that still makes me inspect my locks three times before sleeping. 77:34 Brett installed security cameras at my new home last week. Honestly, seeing my own porch displayed on the monitor provides more comfort than I want to acknowledge. 77:43 At least now if anyone leaves something outside my door, I will know precisely who did it. 77:54 Story 6. 77:56 The fluorescent lighting in my office was causing another headache that Friday afternoon when my co-worker Paul stopped beside my cubicle and mentioned a Halloween bar crawl taking place downtown. 78:07 October had been miserable. I had worked 60-hour weeks trying to satisfy quarterly deadlines while my supervisor continually pressured me about the Ferguson account. 78:17 I hadn't gone out socially in what felt like several months. Paul repeatedly insisted that attending would benefit me. 78:24 According to him, I needed an opportunity to release some tension. 78:28 After staring at spreadsheets since 7 o'clock that morning, the thought of drinking a single beer in a crowded bar filled with people wearing ridiculous costumes began to seem surprisingly attractive. 78:40 I promised myself I would stay for only an hour, perhaps two at the absolute maximum. 78:46 I would have one drink, laugh at a few costumes and return home before midnight. The organized crawl included five separate establishments along Washington Street. 78:56 When I arrived at approximately 9.30, the sidewalks were already crowded with zombies, witches and at least three men wearing inflatable dinosaur costumes who staggered between locations. 79:07 I forced my way into the second bar on the route, an establishment called the Black Cat that I had never previously visited. 79:14 A wall of noise struck me immediately. Someone was playing a remix of Monster Mash combined with modern bass so powerful that the floor vibrated beneath my feet. 79:25 Artificial cobwebs covered the interior, along with holographic decorations whose images changed whenever you moved your head. 79:33 The effect made the entire room feel faintly unreal. 79:36 I managed to push through the crowd until I reached the bar in order to beer. 79:41 Nearby, a woman dressed as Beetlejuice argued with her boyfriend. He was apparently supposed to be Lydia, but had clearly abandoned his wig approximately three drinks earlier. 79:51 That was when a man moved beside me at the counter. 79:54 He wore what appeared to be an authentic police uniform, including a badge, radio, and even handcuffs attached to his belt. 80:01 He carried himself with relaxed confidence, leaning against the bar as though he owned it. 80:07 When he noticed me examining his costume, he smiled and joked that he was performing unofficial duty that evening, ensuring that everyone enjoyed themselves. 80:17 Something about his delivery made me laugh. Before I realized it, we were discussing how Halloween celebrations in the city became increasingly chaotic every year, and how neither of us could believe some of the costumes people had chosen. 80:31 He introduced himself as Officer Mike, using air quotes around the word officer. 80:36 Then he began sharing absurd stories about Halloween arrests he had supposedly made in previous years. 80:42 One involved a man dressed as a hot dog who attempted to steal an actual hot dog cart. 80:48 Another concerned a woman wearing a Tyrannosaurus Rex costume who became trapped inside a revolving door and caused a three-hour evacuation of the building. 80:57 His stories were so detailed and ridiculous that I began genuinely laughing for the first time in weeks. 81:03 The pressure from work finally started disappearing. 81:07 Mike maintained his police persona while making it obvious that he understood the joke. 81:12 Occasionally he removed the radio from his belt and pretended to answer emergency calls concerning costume-related incidents around the city. 81:20 When he offered to purchase a shot to commemorate my first citation-free Halloween, I honestly considered refusing. 81:27 I had genuinely planned to consume only one beer. 81:30 However, he was already signaling to the bartender and insisting that police officers traditionally purchase drinks for law-abiding citizens. 81:39 The bartender was a purple-haired woman dressed as some variety of gothic fairy. She poured two shots of a green liquid that glowed beneath the ultraviolet lights. 81:48 Mike raised his glass and proposed a toast to serving and protecting everyone's right to make questionable choices while dressed in absurd costumes. 81:57 The drink tasted like sour apples combined with something medicinal. 82:02 It wasn't terrible, but it was considerably stronger than I had anticipated. 82:06 I remember thinking that I should drink some water afterward. 82:10 Mike had already ordered another pair of beers. He pushed one toward me while beginning another story about ending a fight between two men wearing identical superhero costumes, each of whom accused the other of stealing his idea. 82:23 I was approximately halfway through the second beer when the room began tilting slightly. The sensation resembled standing aboard a boat on calm water. 82:32 It was subtle but unquestionably present. 82:35 At first I assumed it was happening because I hadn't eaten since lunch. Perhaps I had also lost my tolerance for alcohol after practically living inside the office for the preceding two months. 82:46 Then I attempted to check the time and discovered that my pocket was empty. 82:50 That seemed strange because I clearly remembered putting my phone in my right front pocket after texting Paul to say I had reached the bar. 82:58 Mike noticed me checking my clothing and asked whether something was wrong. His expression of professional concern appeared so convincing that I felt embarrassed, as if I were troubling him with a minor personal inconvenience. 83:11 I told him that I couldn't locate my phone. He immediately began helping. 83:16 He removed a flashlight, an actual police-grade model that seemed far too genuine to be part of a costume, and searched the floor surrounding the bar. 83:25 Mike behaved so attentively and appeared so concerned that I didn't question it when he casually suggested checking my rear pocket to confirm that my wallet was still there. 83:36 It wasn't. 83:37 The realization that both my wallet and telephone were missing arrived simultaneously with another wave of dizziness. This one was powerful enough to make me grab the counter for support. 83:48 Mike placed a hand on my shoulder to steady me. His fingers felt strangely cold through my shirt, as if he had been holding a glass filled with ice water. 83:57 He explained that pickpockets enjoyed exploiting crowded Halloween events. 84:02 I should file a report, he said, and he knew a quiet location where we could complete the necessary paperwork. 84:09 His voice sounded as though it were traveling through cotton, distorted and muffled. 84:14 When I looked at him, his features drifted in and out of focus. 84:18 The concerned expression remained fixed on his face like a mask that didn't correspond with the words leaving his mouth. 84:25 The gothic fairy bartender suddenly appeared and asked whether I was alright. 84:29 I attempted to tell her that my belongings were missing, but my speech emerged thick and disorganized. 84:35 It felt as though my tongue had doubled in size. 84:38 Mike was already explaining that I had experienced a difficult evening, that someone had stolen my possessions, and that he intended to escort me outside for fresh air and help me submit a report. 84:50 The bartender looked from him to me. Something passed across her face. Not quite suspicion, but close to it. 84:58 She asked whether she should contact a real police officer. 85:01 Mike laughed. It was a warm and reassuring sound that might have comforted me if the room hadn't begun spinning more rapidly. 85:09 He displayed his badge and explained that he was off duty but still willing to help a citizen in distress. 85:15 Under the swirling lights, the badge appeared completely genuine. Its identification numbers and insignia reflected the strobes in a way that made them seem to pulse and breathe. 85:25 The bartender slowly nodded, although I noticed that she continued observing us as Mike escorted me away from the counter. 85:32 His arm now surrounded my shoulders, practically carrying me while my legs began feeling as though they were constructed from wet sand. 85:40 The crowd separated around us like water. 85:43 Painted faces and elaborate costumes dissolved into a meaningless blur of colors and forms. 85:49 We passed several women dressed as the Sanderson sisters from Hocus Pocus. 85:54 One stared directly at me with worried eyes. Her mouth moved as though she were asking me a question. 86:00 Mike merely tightened his hold and continued directing me toward what I believed was the exit. 86:06 We entered a narrow corridor that smelled of stale beer and cleaning chemicals. 86:10 The music from the principal room became muted and remote. 86:14 I attempted to ask where we were going, but my mouth no longer obeyed me. 86:19 Mike continued speaking in a composed, professional tone. 86:22 He said something about recording my statement while the information remained fresh. 86:27 His vehicle was immediately outside and everything would be resolved in no time. 86:32 The hallway seemed endless. Its walls expanded and contracted like breathing lungs. 86:38 I realized other people were there as well. A man dressed as a pirate sat collapsed against one wall, his expression vacant and confused. 86:47 Mike stepped over the man's extended legs as though he didn't exist. 86:51 The rear exit led into an alley that definitely wasn't Washington Street. It was only a narrow space between two buildings, containing a dumpster that reeked of decaying food. 87:02 A single flickering light made everything appear yellow and diseased. 87:06 A van waited there. It was an ordinary white vehicle without any rear windows. 87:12 Absolute terror pierced the fog surrounding my thoughts. Even though I had been drugged and was barely conscious, some primitive part of me understood that the situation was terribly wrong. 87:23 Entering that van would mean something horrible. 87:26 I attempted to pull away, but my body didn't respond properly. 87:30 Every movement was delayed and uncoordinated, as though I were struggling through thick syrup. 87:35 Mike's grip became iron. He no longer pretended to support me. 87:40 He simply dragged me toward the van's open rear doors. 87:43 That was when I saw the other victims. Two people already lay inside, both wearing costumes. 87:50 One was dressed as a vampire. The other wore some kind of superhero outfit that I couldn't identify. 87:56 Both were entirely unconscious and arranged across the van's floor like mannequins. 88:01 Mike spoke to someone outside my line of sight. His voice had changed. It was now clipped and business-like. 88:09 I heard phrases such as third pickup and clean grab. 88:13 With perfect and horrifying clarity, I realized this wasn't random or opportunistic. It was planned, rehearsed, and professional. 88:21 My legs completely collapsed just as we reached the vehicle. 88:25 For one moment I believed everything was over. I would be placed on the floor beside the others and transported to an unknown place for an unimaginable purpose. 88:35 But as Mike shifted his grip to lift me, the absurdly authentic radio attached to his belt caught against the edge of the van door. 88:43 It fell onto the pavement and its plastic housing cracked open. 88:47 Mike cursed. The sound was sharp and furious, nothing like the friendly personality of Officer Mike. 88:54 He released me with one hand to retrieve the radio. 88:57 During that single moment, adrenaline accomplished what my conscious thoughts couldn't. 89:02 My body reacted instinctively. 89:05 I twisted violently and fell sideways, away from the van, landing beside the foul-smelling dumpster. 89:12 Pain exploded through my shoulder when I struck the ground, briefly clearing some of the haze from my mind. 89:18 I began producing noise. 89:20 I couldn't scream because my throat wasn't functioning correctly, but I forced out a loud, wordless groan that echoed between the alley walls. 89:29 Mike reached for me again, then voices sounded from the opposite end of the alley. 89:34 Several intoxicated participants in the bar crawl had wandered outside to smoke, vomit, or make out. 89:41 Their laughter sliced through the night like an emergency siren. Everything moved rapidly after that, although my brain registered it only in isolated fragments, like a film with half of its frames removed. 89:55 Mike urgently said something to the unseen person in the van. 89:58 Doors slammed. The engine roared and the tires shrieked as the vehicle reversed through the alley so quickly that it almost struck the dumpster. 90:07 I remained on the ground attempting to comprehend what had nearly happened. 90:11 The intoxicated strangers found me there. They were a group of college students dressed as characters from the office. Their expressions changed from amusement to alarm when they saw me struggling to sit upright. 90:23 One young woman wore a Pam Beasley wig. She repeatedly asked whether I was alright and if I needed assistance. 90:30 Her friend, dressed as Jim, had already taken out his phone and was dialing 911. 90:35 I attempted to explain Mike, the van, and the two unconscious people inside. 90:41 My words emerged as incomprehensible murmurs that only increased their concern. 90:46 They remained with me. 90:47 They formed a protective circle around my body. 90:50 almost as though they understood that something terrible had occurred even if they didn't know precisely what it was. 90:57 One of them gave me bottled water. 90:59 After whatever Mike had put into my body, it tasted like heaven. 91:03 Actual police officers arrived approximately 10 minutes later, although time had become elastic and meaningless. 91:10 They transported me to a hospital. 91:12 Doctors performed tests and confirmed what everyone already suspected. 91:17 I had been drugged with what they described as a cocktail, multiple substances intended to incapacitate a person without causing death. 91:25 It was professional-grade material that would have rendered me entirely unconscious within several more minutes. 91:31 The following morning, after the drugs had faded enough for me to speak coherently, a detective interviewed me. 91:37 She explained that investigators had monitored similar incidents for several weeks. They always occurred during crowded events. Someone always impersonated a figure of authority. A police officer, security guard, or even an EMT. 91:53 She showed me grainy surveillance footage from the black cat. There was Mike in his flawless uniform, guiding two additional people through the same rear exit approximately one hour after my escape. 92:04 One leaned against him like an intoxicated friend. 92:07 Another individual I hadn't noticed inside the bar supported the second victim. That person must have been assisting Mike throughout the entire evening. 92:16 Authorities found both victims the next day in separate areas of the city. 92:20 They were alive but couldn't remember anything that happened after their second drinks. 92:25 Their credit cards had reached their limits, and their bank accounts had been emptied through ATM transactions they didn't remember completing. 92:33 The detective told me I was fortunate. Most victims never recognized that someone had drugged them until they awakened elsewhere with their finances destroyed and their phones completely erased. 92:43 She said the group was highly sophisticated. In addition to stealing money immediately, they were probably selling their victims personal information. 92:52 Mike's uniform and badge were so convincing that even genuine police officers had previously believed him. They were never captured. 93:00 As far as I know, the white van carried stolen license plates. The bar's surveillance system couldn't record a clear image of Mike's face because of the strobe lighting. 93:10 The other victims couldn't remember enough details to assist investigators. Sometimes I still think about the two unconscious people inside that van. 93:19 I wonder what happened to them after I escaped. Perhaps they awakened in unfamiliar places with the same nauseating confusion I experienced and the same sense of violation from not knowing what had happened while they were unconscious. 93:33 The detective instructed me to change every password and freeze my credit. 93:37 Those practical precautions felt insignificant beside the magnitude of what had nearly occurred. 93:43 What truly haunts me, and still makes me check my drinks three times, even three years later, is how effortless the entire performance was for him. 93:53 He portrayed that role perfectly. 93:55 I often wonder how many other Officer Mikes are currently buying drinks for people who only wanted to spend one evening away from their desks. 94:03 One ordinary night in a world that suddenly seems filled with predators wearing the masks of protectors. 94:14 Story 7 Two years had passed since my divorce became final, and by then, the silence no longer felt unusual. 94:23 I had grown accustomed to living in my small house on the outskirts of town, a modest one-story home with peeling paint and a porch light that buzzed whenever it rained. 94:33 Halloween night arrived with a persistent wind and the sort of cold that gave the air a faint metallic smell. 94:40 I had placed a bowl of candy on the counter, but not one child came to my door that year. 94:45 I remember thinking how strange it seemed. 94:48 The entire street was dark. There was no laughter and no sound of footsteps. 94:53 Only dead leaves scraping across my driveway. 94:56 At approximately 9 o'clock, someone knocked on the door. Three brief taps sounded, followed by a pause, almost as though the visitor were deciding whether to knock again. 95:07 I hesitated because nobody ever visited me without warning. When I opened the door, I found a woman standing beneath the porch light. 95:14 Makeup ran down her cheeks as though she had been crying. 95:18 She wore a beige coat buttoned all the way to her neck, and her hair clung to her face, slightly wet from the drizzle. 95:25 She said her vehicle had broken down nearby and asked whether I could assist her. 95:30 Her voice trembled. 95:31 It didn't sound weak exactly, but unsteady, as though she were attempting to remain composed and failing. 95:38 I offered to contact a towing service for her. 95:41 I even said I could wait outside while she remained inside her vehicle to stay warm. 95:46 She immediately shook her head. 95:48 Her eyes moved toward the darkness behind her and then returned to me. 95:53 I'd rather wait inside for a little while, she said. 95:56 Something about that request made me uncomfortable. I remained courteous, but firmly explained that I didn't feel comfortable allowing a stranger into my home. 96:05 For a long moment, she simply stood there while the porch light flickered above her face. 96:10 Her breathing gradually slowed. She stared directly at me. Not with anger or desperation, but with complete stillness. 96:19 The atmosphere between us became heavy, as though the entire night were holding its breath. 96:25 Then she turned around without speaking and walked down the path. 96:29 She displayed no irritation and released no frustrated sigh. 96:33 I heard only the clicking of her heels against the concrete until the wind swallowed the sound. 96:39 I remained in the doorway for several more seconds before closing and locking it. 96:43 Turning a lock always seems louder when the surrounding house is too quiet. 96:48 I approached the window, half expecting to see her walking toward the main road. The street was deserted. Only my porch light produced its faint electrical buzz, casting a dim orange circle across the wet pavement. 97:01 I tried to dismiss my uneasiness. She had probably approached another house and found someone less cautious. 97:08 Approximately one hour later, I noticed something peculiar. 97:12 Through the living room window, I glimpsed faint movement on the opposite side of the street. 97:17 A shadow shifted just outside the area, illuminated by the porch light. 97:21 I moved the curtain aside, expecting that the woman might have returned. 97:26 The sidewalk was empty, however the lid of my mailbox was slightly raised. 97:31 I knew I had closed it that morning. 97:33 A small irrational chill traveled down my back, the kind that causes you to distrust your own memory. 97:40 I spent some time studying the silent street before eventually allowing the curtain to fall back into place. 97:46 Later I attempted to concentrate on a movie, but my thoughts continually returned to the woman's face. 97:52 There had been something strangely intentional about the way she watched me before leaving. 97:57 She hadn't looked confused or frightened like a stranded motorist. Her expression had been focused as though she were waiting for a specific response from me. 98:06 Around midnight another noise came from the front entrance. It was quieter this time. Not a knock but a single brushing sound followed by a slow scrape across the wood. 98:17 The moment I approached the door the noise ceased. 98:20 I waited. 98:21 Nothing followed. 98:23 I heard only the porch lights buzzing and the faint whisper of wind pushing leaves against the siding. 98:28 Sleeping became impossible. 98:31 I sat in the recliner beside the window and left the television running on mute for company. 98:36 Every creak of the floorboard seemed amplified, and I caught myself looking toward the entrance every few minutes. 98:42 At approximately 2 o'clock in the morning, headlights briefly flashed through the blinds. 98:47 A police cruiser was traveling down the street. 98:50 I hurried outside and waved it down. I felt ridiculous, but by then I was too disturbed to care. 98:57 An officer patiently listened while I described the evening and wrote notes in a small pad. When I mentioned the woman and her disabled vehicle, he exchanged a quick glance with his partner. 99:08 They had just finished examining an abandoned car two blocks away. The engine was cold, they explained, and the keys remained inside the ignition. 99:17 There was no trace of anybody nearby. 99:20 What stayed with me most was their description of the driver's seat. 99:23 It had been pushed completely backward, as though someone considerably taller had been driving the car. 99:29 One officer asked whether I wanted them to inspect my property as a precaution. 99:34 I agreed immediately and followed while they walked around the house, their flashlight slicing through the fog. 99:41 One beam illuminated the edge of my driveway. 99:44 Faint, wet footprints traveled halfway up the driveway before disappearing close to the porch. 99:49 The officers followed the prints until they vanished near the first step. They discovered no one hiding nearby. There were no tire tracks and nothing in the yard appeared disturbed. 100:00 Before departing, one officer instructed me to keep every entrance locked and call immediately if anything else occurred. 100:07 I remained on the porch for some time after the cruiser left, listening to the neighborhood. 100:12 It was utterly silent. 100:14 It was the kind of silence that seemed intentional, almost as though even the wind were waiting for something. 100:20 I returned indoors, checked all the locks twice, and turned on every light. Dawn was approaching before I finally managed to sit down again. 100:29 Just as I began drifting towards sleep, faint tapping sounded against the kitchen window. 100:34 It wasn't loud. 100:36 It had the steady rhythm of tree branches touching glass, except no trees stood close enough to reach that side of my house. 100:43 I froze in the hallway staring at the blinds. 100:46 The tapping ceased. Then I heard a gentle scraping sound from lower down, as if someone were pulling their fingernails across the siding. 100:55 I said aloud that I had already contacted the police and that officers were on their way, hoping my voice would frighten away whoever was outside. The sound stopped instantly. 101:06 I remained motionless for what seemed like several minutes before opening the blinds. There was nothing outside. 101:12 I saw only my own pale reflection beneath the kitchen light. 101:16 The following morning I discovered an object resting on the porch step. It was one silver car key, damp with morning dew. 101:24 The key didn't belong to me. 101:26 I drove an old pickup truck that required an entirely different type. Police returned, collected the key, and said they would compare it with the report concerning the abandoned vehicle. 101:36 Later that day, they called and confirmed that it belonged to the car they had found. They never located the woman, and no missing person report corresponded with her description. 101:47 A towing company removed the abandoned vehicle from the neighborhood by that evening. 101:51 Afterward, nobody ever mentioned it again. 101:54 I continue to live in the same house, although I replace the old porch light with one controlled by a motion sensor. 102:01 Every Halloween since that night it flickers at least once, even when nobody is outside. 102:07 I tell myself the wiring is responsible. that it is simply the same defective electrical buzz I had postponed repairing. 102:14 But every year when the temperature turns cold and leaves begin accumulating against the fence, I find myself staring toward the road. 102:23 Part of me expects to see a figure in a beige coat standing beneath that weak orange light, silently waiting beside my driveway. 102:35 STORY 8 It was one of those cold Halloween evenings when the air felt sharp and dry and every porch light seemed to hum more loudly than normal. 102:44 I had agreed to babysit for a couple who lived across the street. They were the kind of neighbors who always waved but never truly stopped to have a conversation. 102:53 Their daughter, Emma, was seven years old. She was usually quiet unless she was discussing costumes or candy. 103:01 Her parents planned to attend a neighborhood party and asked whether I could take Emma trick-or-treating in the recently built subdivision several blocks away. 103:09 I didn't give the request much thought. I had completed many babysitting jobs and it sounded like a simple evening. 103:16 The new subdivision remained only half occupied. Some yards were unfinished and every house looked as though it had been duplicated from the same catalog. 103:25 As we moved from one front door to another, Emma held my hand firmly but never appeared frightened. 103:31 She wore a fairy costume. Glitter covered her hair, and her small plastic wings reflected the porch lights. She behaved politely and always remembered to say thank you. 103:42 By the fifth home, her bucket was already heavy with candy. I remember noticing how silent the subdivision seemed compared with our street. 103:50 There were no barking dogs and no music. We heard only the quiet impact of our shoes against the pavement. 103:57 At some point, Emma pulled on my sleeve and pointed farther down the road. 104:01 They give toys instead of candy, she said excitedly. 104:05 She was referring to the house at the end of the cul-de-sac. It was completely dark. 104:10 There was no porch light, no Halloween ornamentation, and not even the weak glow of a television behind the windows. 104:18 I hesitated and told her the occupants probably weren't participating that year. 104:23 Emma insisted otherwise, tightening her small hand around mine. 104:27 Something about the certainty in her voice disturbed me. 104:30 She seemed completely sure, almost as though she had visited the property before. 104:36 Nevertheless, I accompanied her along the path, assuming the owners might simply be late turning on their porch light. 104:43 The front door was unusually tall with a narrow panel of frosted glass beside it. 104:48 Emma knocked twice and then looked up at me with a wide smile, waiting. 104:52 For several seconds nothing occurred. Then I heard a latch moving inside the house. The door opened only far enough to expose a narrow section of darkness. Nobody greeted us and I couldn't see a face. A pale hand extended through the opening and dropped a small object into Emma's bucket. 105:10 Then the door closed again. 105:12 Emma appeared delighted. She shook her bucket and listened to the object rattling among the pieces of candy. 105:19 I tried to determine what it was, but she said she wanted to wait until we returned home before examining it. 105:25 As we walked away, I looked back at the entrance, expecting a porch light to switch on or a curtain to move. 105:32 Nothing happened. 105:33 Every window remained black. The house merged with the shadows as though it were part of the darkness itself. 105:40 The streetlight on the corner flickered. For a moment I thought I detected movement behind the frosted glass beside the door, but it was too subtle for me to be certain. 105:50 After returning to Emma's home, I helped her arrange the candy across the kitchen table while the clock quietly ticked above us. Her parents were still at the party. The house felt comfortable again, filled with that warm atmosphere after trick-or-treating, the sound of wrappers crinkling inside and distant laughter fading outside. 106:10 Eventually, Emma selected the small object she had received from the dark house. It was a miniature plastic horse, the type of inexpensive toy that might come from a gumball machine. 106:21 However, its legs had partially melted, as if someone had held it too close to a source of heat. 106:27 Its other details were peculiar as well. Both eyes had been painted solid black without pupils, and a faint number had been carved into its underside. 106:37 4. 106:38 I laughed uneasily and suggested that it might simply be an old toy somebody had included as a joke. 106:44 Emma didn't appear convinced. 106:47 They had more, she whispered while staring at the toy on the shelves. 106:51 I asked what she meant. She refused to elaborate, saying only that they had given her the nicest one. 106:58 It was a strange thing to say, but I didn't pressure her. 107:01 Children invent stories constantly, and I assumed she was simply tired. 107:06 After Emma fell asleep on the couch, I sent her parents a message telling them that everything was fine. 107:12 Approximately one hour later, Footsteps outside the living room window disrupted the silence. They moved slowly and deliberately from the front porch toward the side of the house. 107:22 I switched off the television and listened, thinking that perhaps a teenager was crossing the yard. 107:28 Then someone knocked three times on the entrance. 107:31 The knocks were gentle but separated by perfectly equal intervals. 107:35 There was no doorbell and no voice, only those three taps. 107:39 I opened the curtain slightly. 107:41 Nobody was on the porch and nothing moved anywhere along the street. 107:45 I waited several minutes before deciding to inspect the porch. The wind had strengthened and carried dry leaves over the steps. The street remained empty. 107:55 I locked the entrance again, turned off the porch light and returned to my seat. 108:00 I pretended to read something on my phone while concentrating on every noise around me. 108:05 Eventually, silence returned, but I couldn't dismiss the feeling that somebody had been outside. 108:10 When Emma's parents finally arrived, I described the footsteps and the knocks. They dismissed the incident as children playing a prank. 108:18 I left shortly afterward, but the feeling of unease followed me throughout the walk home. 108:24 Curiosity overcame me the following morning. 108:27 I drove to the new subdivision because I wanted to inspect the dark house during daylight. The sky was grey, and the streets were almost deserted apart from several workers trimming hedges. 108:38 When I reached the end of the cul-de-sac, my stomach tightened. 108:42 The property was there, but the house stood vacant. 108:45 Boards covered the front entrance, weeds climbed the steps, and dust coated the windows. 108:50 A paper notice had been attached to the wood. 108:53 It was dated several months earlier and stated that the property had been condemned. 108:58 Nothing suggested that anyone lived there, and there were certainly no recent footprints around the porch. 109:04 I immediately approached the nearest construction crew and asked whether anyone had recently worked inside the building. 109:11 One worker shrugged and said the property had been abandoned since before the road was even paved. 109:16 Nobody is supposed to enter that place, he told me. 109:20 I merely nodded because I didn't want to sound insane. 109:23 After returning home, I sent a message to Emma's parents and asked whether she still possessed the plastic horse. They said she did, although it had gone missing the previous night after she brought it to bed. 109:35 They believed their dog might have carried it away, but the animal never went upstairs. 109:41 That night I repeatedly remembered the sound of the latch moving, the controlled click immediately before the door opened. 109:48 It had been far too smooth and purposeful to have come from a damaged lock. 109:53 I don't know who or what occupied that house, but I know that someone opened the door. 109:58 The following Halloween I refused every babysitting job. 110:01 I remained home with the lights turned off and pretended not to be there whenever trick-or-treaters knocked. 110:07 Every year since then, whenever I notice an unlit house at the end of a street, I instinctively cross to the opposite side. 110:20 Story 9 Halloween night used to be my favorite occasion of the year. 110:25 My son Evan was six at the time, and I remember his excitement about finally wearing the homemade astronaut costume we had spent two weekends constructing together. 110:35 I selected a busy downtown neighborhood because it was holding a family-friendly trick-or-treating event. 110:41 Lights had been suspended across the streets, and store owners distributed candy from decorated entrances. 110:48 The area was crowded but in a reassuring way. 110:51 Parents laughed, children compared their candy, and music echoed between the buildings. 110:57 As a single mother, I appreciated being surrounded by so many people. The number of families created a comforting sense of security. 111:05 We had been walking for approximately one hour when a man with a camera hanging from his neck approached us beside a bakery whose windows were covered with artificial spider webs. 111:15 He appeared to be in his late thirties and wore a denim jacket and a lanyard with a laminated badge reading, community event photographer he smiled politely and explained that he was collecting photographs for a local halloween blog only spontaneous images of costumes throughout town he even showed me the photographs saved on his camera there were pictures of other families some were unfocused while others were genuinely impressive everything seemed harmless besides evan looked adorable in his astronaut costume so i gave the man permission He crouched until he was at Evan's hide and took several photographs. 111:54 He asked my son to display his candy bucket, turn toward the lights, and stand beside the enormous pumpkin arrangement. 112:01 The man remained friendly, although perhaps slightly too concentrated on the task. 112:06 I dismissed that feeling. 112:08 After finishing, he thanked me and gave me a small card with a website address written across it. He said the photographs might appear online within several days. 112:17 I slipped the card into my pocket, and Evan and I continued enjoying the evening. 112:22 I didn't think about the interaction again until the following morning. Evan was still asleep when I decided to visit the blog out of curiosity. 112:30 The website was mostly empty. It contained only several photographs of costumed children, and the footer identified the photographer as Tommy. 112:40 As I continued scrolling, I noticed a link near the bottom labeled more local shots. It redirected me to a separate page that didn't appear connected to the original website. Its design was crude and contained random photographs of children at public events, playgrounds, and grocery stores. 112:58 My stomach tightened when I saw Evan among them. 113:02 He was wearing his astronaut costume and holding his candy bucket. 113:06 Then I noticed another detail reflected in the store window behind him. 113:10 Part of our home address was visible on a sticker attached to my car, which had been parked across the street. 113:16 Initially, I tried to convince myself that it was merely a coincidence. 113:20 Perhaps the reflected sticker didn't actually belong to my car, but the longer I examined it, the more certain I became. 113:28 The final three digits of our address were visible. The faint shape of my mailbox number also appeared in the lower corner of the glass. 113:36 My throat became dry. 113:38 I refreshed the webpage repeatedly, hoping that the image would disappear or that I had imagined what I saw. 113:45 It remained there. The page contained dozens of additional pictures. Comments appeared beneath some of them. cryptic and disturbing messages discussing where the images had been captured, speculating about neighborhoods, and even identifying license plate numbers. 114:02 I closed the laptop and remained seated for some time, listening to the refrigerator humming in the kitchen. 114:09 It was one of those moments when your mind desperately attempts to understand something that doesn't belong within the logic of ordinary life. 114:16 I called the number printed on the man's business card. It rang twice before transferring directly to voicemail. 114:23 I didn't leave a message. 114:25 Instead, I searched for Tommy online. 114:29 I found nothing except several unrelated profiles. 114:32 That was when my uneasiness became genuine fear. 114:36 The man had pretended to represent the community event, but no record of him appeared anywhere. By that afternoon, I decided to contact the local police. The desk officer listened courteously but appeared uncertain about what the department could do. 114:50 He instructed me to submit a report through the online portal and advised me to remove all identifying information from social media as a precaution. 114:59 He promised to forward the website address to the cybercrime division. 115:03 I left the station feeling embarrassed as though I had overreacted by reporting it. 115:08 Nevertheless, I deleted my personal social media accounts that evening and kept Evan home from school the following day. 115:15 Seeing his photograph displayed online in that context had disturbed me too profoundly to behave as if everything were normal. 115:22 That night I was washing dishes when I looked through the window over the kitchen sink. 115:27 A figure stood beside my car across the street, beneath the flickering streetlight. 115:33 The person didn't move. He simply faced the vehicle as though carefully examining it. 115:38 I turned off the faucet and watched, wondering whether he might be a neighbor or delivery driver. 115:43 The longer he remained there, the more unnatural the situation felt. 115:48 Eventually, the man stepped backward into the shadows and walked toward the intersection without once looking at the house. 115:54 I later went outside to inspect the car. Nothing appeared unusual except for a faint fingerprint smudged across the same rear window where the address sticker had previously been. 116:05 Sleep didn't come easily. Every noise inside the house seemed sharper and more intentional. 116:11 Around midnight I heard what sounded like gravel moving outside my bedroom window. I remained still, holding my breath and listening. 116:19 One minute passed, followed by another. 116:22 Eventually I persuaded myself that the sound had probably come from the wind or a raccoon. 116:28 The following morning, however, I found small shoe prints in the damp earth beside the bushes. 116:33 Although small, they were adult-sized and the tread resembled a pair of work boots. 116:37 I had never seen marks like them around my house. 116:41 I emailed the officer who had accepted my original report and attached screenshots of the website along with photographs of the footprints. 116:48 He responded several hours later. 116:51 The cybercrime unit was still investigating, he explained. He also recommended contacting the organizers to determine whether they had hired an official photographer that evening. 117:02 When I reached the woman responsible for the event, she told me they had no record of anyone named Tommy. 117:08 They hadn't employed any official photographer. 117:11 She also revealed that several parents had reported a man carrying a camera who seemed unusually interested in their children. 117:18 That was the first moment I understood that my experience might not have been isolated. 117:23 By the end of the week, the page containing Evan's photograph had disappeared. 117:27 The link produced only a blank error screen, and even the original Halloween blog had been deleted. 117:33 The officer contacted me one more time. Investigators had traced the domain to a server located overseas, he explained, and there was very little possibility of identifying the person responsible. 117:46 He advised me to install motion-activated lights around the property and store my car inside the garage. 117:52 I followed both recommendations. 117:54 I even replaced the mailbox and eliminated every visible reference to our address from outside the house. 118:00 Three years have passed since that Halloween and nothing further has occurred. Still every October when I take Evan trick-or-treating I scan the crowd for cameras. I'm not concerned about the friendly cameras people use to preserve memories. I look for the ones that remain focused on a child for slightly too long. 118:19 Perhaps I am merely cautious. 118:21 Perhaps I have become paranoid. 118:23 Even so, I retain that business card inside a drawer. It is folded and faded, serving as a reminder that even within a crowd filled with costumes and laughter, someone may be observing you for reasons you will never completely understand.