The Neighbor Who Was Watching Through the Wall
I kept feeling watched in my own bedroom. One night I found the tiny hole behind the framed picture, and behind the wall, in the vacant next unit, a chair, a blanket, and a very patient man.
New Scary Stories to Read — True and Fiction Archive — Page 14
Posted in 1994, Delivered for the Funeral Certified True by readers
A postcard my father mailed from a fishing trip thirty years ago arrived the morning of his funeral — with the sentence the family had spent all week trying to write.
My Boss Timed My Bathroom Breaks to the Second
My call-center boss timed my bathroom breaks to the second and left sticky notes about it. Then a quiet coworker took his frowny-face note straight to HR, and everything changed.
Nobody Trained Duke to Do This. He Just Knew My Seizures Were Coming.
Duke was a shelter mutt, not a service dog. But ten minutes before every seizure, he would press against my legs and refuse to move. He was never once wrong.
A Bee Sting Nearly Ended Me and I Saw Everything
One sting in the garden and my throat closed in minutes. As my body shut down, my whole life opened up in front of me, and I was gently shown the good I had not finished doing.
The Quiet Couple Next Door Never Had a Single Visitor. Then a Van Came at Dawn.
They were the most polite, most forgettable neighbors on the street. No friends, no family, no noise. It took four years and one unmarked van to find out who they actually were.
The Groom Butt-Dialled Me During The Vows And I Heard All Of It Certified True by readers
I was in a supermarket in another country. I stood in the frozen aisle for nine minutes listening to my best friend get married.
We Bricked Up a Door and It Screams
Renovating our Victorian, we sealed a pointless doorway to nowhere. That night the knocking began — from inside the bricked cavity — and on the worst nights, a voice we can almost understand.
I Got Drunk At The Staff Party And Reorganised The Warehouse Certified True by readers
By a system. A good system. Nobody could find anything for two days, and then we kept it.
I Cancelled the Trip the Day Before for No Reason Certified True by readers
I had a long-planned trip and woke the day before certain I must not go. I could not say why. I cancelled everything. The tour I would have joined was caught in a landslide that closed the road for a week.
Last Call at Northgate Mall
The dead mall closed in 2009. We slipped in through a loading dock to photograph it. In the food court, under a skylight full of moonlight, a woman in a store uniform was waiting by a register that had no power to ring.
The Perfume in the Empty House Certified True by readers
After my mother died we sold her house. On the final walkthrough, in the stripped and empty living room, the whole family stopped at once: her perfume, thick in the air, in a house with nothing left in it.
A Wrong Number Sent Me Their Family Christmas Photo For Six Years Certified True by readers
I told them in year one. They kept sending it. Last year the photo had an empty chair, and I cried at a bus stop.
The Leaf Blower Man Declared War on My Mornings
My neighbor bought a commercial-grade leaf blower and used it at 6:30 a.m. as a weapon. This is a story about spite, decibels, and how far two grown men will go over a driveway.
The Hat Man Stands in the Doorway Certified True by readers
Since childhood, on the worst nights, a tall figure in a wide-brimmed hat stands in my bedroom doorway. I described him age seven. My daughter, now, has just described him to me. Word for word.
I Drunk-Texted My Boss "I Love You" And He Replied Like A Gentleman Certified True by readers
It was meant for my sister. It went to Derek, 58, in operations, who has a moustache and a fishing boat.
Someone Kept Clocking In After I Went Home
My timesheet showed hours I never worked. Late nights, weekends, all under my login. The truth got me fired for fraud I did not commit, and I still do not know who did.
Two Martin Kovacs, Row 14 Certified True by readers
Same name, same birthday, seats 14A and 14B on a flight neither of us was originally booked on — the airline's apology podium gave the universe its stage.
My Maid Of Honour Saved The Wedding And Never Told Me Until Last Year Certified True by readers
The registrar was in the wrong building. The flowers were in a locked van. My best friend fixed both and told me the day was "going great".
No Firstborn in Our Family Is Ever Allowed to Learn to Swim
Every firstborn in my family for four generations has been forbidden from the water. Grandma called it the promise. I called it superstition -- until I read the church record.
