Let's Not Meet~ Reddit Horror Stories

Seriously Dodgy Encounter

In university I lived in a flat with some friends at the end of a cul-de-sac. In fact, it wasn't even that. The street just ended with a fence.

It wasn't a great neighbourhood. It was mostly students, refugees and state housing. Not a lot of money floating around, loud parties most nights, high brightly rate. Our second night there the girls had their motor scooters stolen and smashed.

Our neighbour was the house at the very end of the street, by the fence. All I ever knew was that she was a young single mum, lived in state housing, smoked weed occasionally and spent a few nights a week at her boyfriends house (she would take her son too), so the house was often empty for as long as a week at a time. She kept to herself.

Over the road we had some Somalian refugees who were always really polite and friendly, and next to them an old couple. The old lady ran the local neighbourhood watch, and her husband had a disability. Even if it wasn't a great area, there were some good people around us.

We'd been living there about a year when this story happened. I went out onto our driveway to have a smoke at about midnight. My shift had just ended and I'd just got home. As I lit up I did a double take. Our neighbour had her car parked in her driveway, partly obscured from me by her house.

I could have sworn I'd seen someone, standing by her car, jump behind the house as I turned around.

I stood for a few seconds just staring, wondering if I was so tired my eyes were playing tricks on me. Then out from behind the house a man comes strolling out, as if he'd just been visiting. I knew in my gut something was wrong though. He had had his hands in the pockets of his hoody, hood pulled up. He was slouching, walking very slowly. I stared him dead in the face as he slowly walked past me down the street, and he just avoided my eyes. He looked very skinny and much shorter than me. I'm not a tall guy. His clothes were really loose on him, ill fitting and his shoes were sneakers that didn't match the rest of his outfit at all.

I was so mesmerised I'd forgotten about my cigarette, at least until it burned my finger. I stepped out onto the street to watch him walk away. He got into a red sports car parked outside a house a few doors down, then reversed back down the road. That was pretty odd in itself, normally people drive up the road and use our driveway to do a turn. He turned the corner and I lost sight of him.

I immediately told my flatmate, and we both went next door to check on this woman. She was as confused as us, she said she was most worried he was trying to steal her car, but from looking at him I felt he was up to something worse. I asked her which room was at that front corner of her house, and she said it was her son's room. We all agreed to be more vigilant and call the cops if we see him again. I also called the police non-emergency line to report it, and they were definitely interested but as I hadn't got the number plate there wasn't much they could do.

The next night I get home from work around 10:30pm, and as soon as I turn into my street I tense up. The red car is back. This time he's parked on the other side of the road, pointing the right way for a quicker exit. As I drive by I memorise the number plate, and nonchalantly park at my house. I immediately call the cops and they say they'll send someone out as soon as they can.

We head next door, armed with baseball bats and tell the woman he's back. She locks all her doors and windows while we search her backyard. We head over the road to the neighbourhood watch ladies house and let her know. She comes and searches the street with us as we let our neighbours know to double check all of their doors are locked. We were out for a good couple of hours into the early morning. As expected, the cops never showed up.

We never found the guy, but his car was gone the next morning. When I checked in with the neighbourhood watch lady the next day, she told me there had been a police report that night of someone jumping fences a block away.

I don't want to think he was planning to do, but I'll never forget his creepy gaunt face as he tried to walk past me as if he was meant to be there.

Let's not meet again.