Buzz
We’ve all heard eerie urban myths. Avoid wandering into the forest after dark, or you might face the dreaded Hook Man. Never dare to chant Bloody Mary three times before a shadowy mirror, or you risk being pulled into the abyss. Always inspect the backseat of your car for a lurking ax murderer before driving off. The tales go on and on.
The stories below, however, are far from myths. They aren’t mere campfire tales designed to spook your friends. This list features ten real accounts among countless others, where individuals were oblivious—at least for a time—to the fact that they weren’t alone, whether at home, in their vehicle, or elsewhere.
10. The Mystery Beneath the Bed
In a scenario eerily similar to the tale of a man who believed his dog was licking his hand from under the bed, a woman from Palm Springs, Florida, experienced a heart-stopping moment in 2015 while searching for her missing cats.
Assuming her two cats might be napping beneath her bed, she reached under it, only to feel human skin against her fingertips. Panicked, the 61-year-old woman immediately called 911. The man hiding under her bed crawled out and escaped through the backdoor. Christian Vatovec, 25, was later caught by police near a local canal. He was carrying a digital camera and a gold ankle bracelet when arrested.
The woman had no idea that a neighbor had also alerted the police after seeing Vatovec knocking on multiple doors and then sneaking into her yard. Vatovec was detained without bail, facing charges of theft, burglary, and resisting arrest.
9. An Intruder in the Closet
In 2019, a 20-year-old student named Maddie and her roommates at the University of North Carolina were convinced their off-campus apartment was haunted. This belief grew after clothes began disappearing from her closet and mysterious handprints appeared on the bathroom walls.
One Saturday, Maddie returned to her apartment and heard strange noises coming from her closet. Hoping it was just a raccoon, she called out, 'Who’s there?' To her shock, a male voice replied, 'Oh, my name is Drew.' She opened the closet door to find a man crouched in the corner, dressed in her clothes.
Maddie quickly messaged and called her boyfriend, who rushed to the apartment and made the intruder leave. The police were also notified, but they couldn’t determine how 30-year-old Andrew Clyde Swofford had entered the apartment, as there was no evidence of forced entry. Swofford was arrested soon after the incident and faced charges of misdemeanor breaking and entering.
8. A Homebuyer’s Worst Nightmare
In July 2019, Timothy Smith and his fiancé were thrilled to close on their first home in Gresham. On a quiet Sunday afternoon, they arrived with family members to find a MacBook Pro, an open cider bottle, and a collection of knives placed on their parked car. Assuming the items were left behind by neighbors or friends, they gathered them and brought them inside.
Once inside, Smith immediately sensed something was wrong. A strange vape pen lay on the kitchen table, a heating grate was missing, and holes were punched into several walls. In the bathroom, they discovered a stranger’s clothes on top of the washing machine. Entering the third bedroom, Smith noticed the crawl space hatch was open. He climbed in and found a cat dressed in one of his Chihuahua’s outfits. Alarmed, he retreated and dialed 911.
Fifteen minutes after the police arrived, they escorted a man wearing Smith’s fiancé’s onesie out the front door. The couple later learned that the intruder, identified as 38-year-old Ryan Bishop, had spent three hours breaking through walls, drinking their beer, eating cupcakes, smoking their marijuana, and even playing their video games.
Smith chose to care for the cat discovered with the intruder until its rightful owner could be identified.
7. 'I was hiding under the car just for the view.'
In June 2016, a 48-year-old woman from Aldi, Nebraska, was preparing to enter her car when a hand suddenly reached out from underneath the vehicle and seized her ankle. Shocked, she saw a man emerge from beneath the car and flee. She recognized him as the same individual who had attempted to grab her leg in an apartment parking lot earlier that month.
A few months prior, Jesse M. Johnson had been jailed following a similar incident outside a Walmart. In 2015, he was fined for another occurrence at a TJ Maxx store. Johnson confessed to his attorneys that he needed assistance for his 'strange addiction' and 'unusual behavior.'
In 2017, Johnson’s probation was terminated after four children in a vehicle witnessed him slithering beneath another car. Startled by their screams, he emerged and sped away in his own car. The children’s mother noted his license plate number, leading to his arrest and imprisonment for disturbing the peace.
6. The Nightmare Hotel
Victoria Rothe and a colleague were on a business trip, staying at a hotel, when something terrifying occurred. After a long day, they returned to the hotel, and as Rothe opened her room door, she noticed a woman in the bathroom. Initially assuming it was housekeeping, Rothe quickly realized something was amiss when she saw the woman clutching her clothes. The intruder attempted to push past her with a bag. Rothe seized the bag and checked for her belongings. Finding none, she allowed the woman to leave.
Later, Rothe discovered that while no electronics or cash were stolen, her room had been thoroughly searched, and some of her medication was missing. She contacted the police, who found no evidence of forced entry but noticed drywall debris in the bathroom sink. After leaving without answers, Rothe had a hunch and moved the mirror above the sink. To her shock, she uncovered a large hole behind it, filled with a pillow, blankets, clothes, and other items.
It was later discovered that the woman had access to multiple rooms through holes in the walls left after the hotel’s renovations. These holes had been concealed with mirrors.
5. The Cellar Isn’t Empty
In April 2020, Bruce Wilkerson, the mayor of Bowling Green, Kentucky, was renovating a property he owned when he heard strange noises inside. He also noticed the smell of cigarette smoke drifting in from outside. Investigating the source, he descended into the cellar and was stunned to find what appeared to be blood on the door and a bag containing women’s leggings on the floor.
Unsure of what to make of the scene, he returned to the cellar after the house’s electricity suddenly went out, suspecting someone had tampered with the breaker. This time, he discovered a young woman hiding in the room. She claimed she was 'hiding from someone' before shoving past him and fleeing.
Wilkerson contacted the police to report the incident, clarifying that while nothing was stolen from his home, he couldn’t determine how long the woman had been hiding in the cellar. He also mentioned he wanted to share the story to prevent rumors from spreading about him having 'a lady locked up in my cellar.'
4. He Observed Her While She Slept
On November 12, 2018, 30-year-old Jason Cameron Stiles broke into the bedroom of a 20-year-old Denver woman, assaulted her, and tried to overpower her. Thankfully, the woman managed to fend him off, and he escaped. Police quickly arrested Stiles, discovering a knife and latex gloves in his possession. His handgun was later found outside the woman’s residence.
During the investigation, Stiles confessed to entering the woman’s home multiple times before the attack. He admitted to photographing her belongings, including pages from her journal, and hiding in her closet to watch her undress, brush her teeth, and sleep. It was also revealed that Stiles had been stalking her for over a year before his first break-in.
Stiles was ultimately sentenced to 16 years in prison after being convicted of first-degree burglary, stalking, and a violent crime.
3. Intruder in a Young Girl’s Bedroom
In December 2019, 21-year-old Zacharias Adrian Cavasos connected with a 12-year-old girl through social media. Shortly after, he traveled from Washington to her home on the Umatilla Indian Reservation in Oregon. In early February, he met the girl and persuaded her to let him into her house. Without her grandfather’s knowledge, Cavasos moved into her bedroom. On February 25, the grandfather spotted Cavasos in the house, chased him away, and warned him to stay away from his granddaughter.
Cavasos ignored the warning and quickly sneaked back into the house, where he remained hidden until March 11, 2020. He used hiding spots under the bed and in the closet to avoid detection. The grandfather eventually discovered Cavasos hiding in the room again and contacted the police. After his arrest, Cavasos confessed to having sexual relations with the girl multiple times while secretly living in her room.
At the time of the incident, Cavasos had been released to a clean-and-sober house while awaiting trial.
2. A Stalker in the Room
Photo Credit: Cinemato/ Shutterstock
One evening, the woman discovered Bouslamti hiding beneath her bed. Thankfully, he made no attempt to harm her, and she promptly called the police, leading to his arrest. Bouslamti admitted to stalking the woman for a month and received an 18-month community service sentence along with a five-year restraining order, barring him from contacting her or entering her street.
1. Always Pay Attention to Your Kids
In 2019, Grady Hendrix, an American horror novelist, shared a chilling experience from his childhood.
At the age of nine, Hendrix developed a habit of sneaking downstairs to raid the fridge for leftovers after his family had gone to bed. He moved through the house in complete darkness, avoiding any lights. In May 1981, during one of his late-night food hunts, the sound of a fork scraping against the countertop nearly gave him a heart attack.
Hendrix remembered spotting the silhouette of a man illuminated by the microwave clock’s glow. The intruder was casually seated at the kitchen counter, eating leftovers and drinking milk straight from the carton. Unnoticed, Hendrix rushed upstairs to warn his parents. By the time they arrived, the man had vanished. They dismissed Hendrix’s account, attributing it to his love of horror comics, and sent him back to bed.
Determined to prove he wasn’t imagining things, Hendrix began noting the positions of items in the kitchen. He soon noticed that objects like napkin holders were being moved overnight and once discovered a mug in the sink that hadn’t been there the night before.
In August 1981, while reading in his bedroom, Hendrix glanced up at the air conditioning vent above his bed. Something shifted behind it, and he realized a pair of eyes was peering through the vent. Terrified, Hendrix demanded his parents search the attic and crawl spaces, but they found nothing unusual.
Later that month, Hendrix noticed what appeared to be rice scattered on his bed. Upon closer inspection, he realized they were maggots that had fallen from the vent. Further investigation revealed the man Hendrix had seen in the vent had died inside it. A foam pad was found in the vent, suggesting the man had made himself 'comfortable' while watching Hendrix.
The man’s identity remained a mystery.
