Nineteen Miles of County Road 6
The stretch between the two towns is nineteen miles with nothing on it. I have driven it a hundred times at night. Only once did the same porch light appear three separate times, each time farther ahead of me.
Late Night Scary Stories: Scary Things That Happen at Night — Page 2
The Third Set of Footsteps Certified True by readers
My brother and I lived alone in our late grandmother's farmhouse for a summer. Every night we counted two people going up the stairs, and every night we heard three.
He Asked For A Lift To A Village That Was Demolished In 1965
I know the name because my grandmother was born there. It is under a reservoir. He gave me directions to it, and they were good directions.
The Woman At The Bus Stop Was Wearing My Coat, And I Was Wearing My Coat
Same coat. Same missing second button. Same biro mark on the cuff from a pen that leaked in 2019.
I Babysat the Wrong Family for Half an Hour Certified True by readers
New in town, I took a babysitting gig, walked into the unlocked house at the right address, and looked after two kids for thirty minutes before the actual parents came home.
The Wrong Number Knew My Shift Pattern
It started as a misdirected delivery text. Then it started telling me when I would be home, and it was always right.
The Hitchhiker Got Out Before I Stopped
I felt the door open at sixty miles an hour. The interior light came on. And the seat, when I finally pulled over, was warm.
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.
He Parked in the Fire Lane to Save Two Minutes Certified True by readers
A man ignored the painted fire lane and the honking to park right at the store doors. He came out to find a fire truck had needed that exact spot, and had treated his car accordingly.
My Daughter Said the Man in the Attic Was "Waiting to Be Let Down" Certified True by readers
My four-year-old refused to sleep, saying the man in the attic was waiting to be let down. We had no attic access in her room. When we finally opened the old sealed hatch, we found a small chair facing it.
The Group Chat Saw the Message About the Group Chat Certified True by readers
I meant to text one friend privately to complain about a plan. I sent it to the group chat that contained every single person the complaint was about. Then I watched the typing dots.
The Apartment Had a Door That Was Not on the Floor Plan Certified True by readers
A locked door in our rental, the landlord said was "just a utility closet, no key." Behind it we later found a narrow staircase up into the wall space, a mattress, and a clear view down into our bedroom.
The Baby Monitor Knew His Name Certified True by readers
The monitor in our new apartment kept picking up a voice that was not us — a soft, patient voice that used our son's name before we had told a single neighbour what it was.
Brake Before the Bend
A voice that wasn't a voice said 'slow down now' on a road I drive nightly — three seconds before a horse, black as the dark itself, filled my headlights.
The Woman Between the Headstones
I cut through the old cemetery every night after my shift. For years it was nothing. Then a woman in grey started waiting at the same grave, and started looking up.
My Reflection Was a Half-Second Behind Certified True by readers
For about ten seconds one night, the person in my bathroom mirror copied everything I did — but late, a half-second behind, like a video buffering. Then it caught up and smiled first.
Mile 47 Wants You to Slow Down Certified True by readers
Every long-haul driver on our route knows mile 47: your radio fills with a calm voice saying 'easy now, easy' — and the three who ignored it are the reason the rest of us obey.
I Knew the Whole Conversation Before It Happened
In a meeting I suddenly knew every word before it was spoken — the joke, the interruption, the spilled coffee, the exact sentence my manager would end on. I mouthed the last line as she said it.
The Hitchhiker I Did Not Stop For Certified True by readers
A man waved me down on an empty night road, friendly and normal. Something in me refused to slow. In the mirror I watched him drop the smile the instant I passed, and start running after the car.
Twenty Minutes Vanished on a Ten-Minute Drive
The drive home from work takes ten minutes. One ordinary evening it took fifty, and I remember every second of it, driving a road that would not end while the clock refused to move.
