Ask Lemmy

It’s not noises.. but hope it counts as creepy!

My mom was big into ghosts and stuff (not something I believe in. I’m very skeptical of things that are unproven or that I don’t have data on) so I was sort of raised with creepy nonsense being pointed out.

We lived one place way out in the woods, not near any major roads or anything, smack in the middle of the property we had, and the back of our property butted the back of someone else’s property so there was just woods for several miles in that direction, no paths or roads or anything. I’d explored it several times because, well, that’s what kids do when they have nothing else to do. Trespass.

My mom did a bunch of digging into the history of our property and found out that the person who built it back in the 1850s or whatever had died in a fire out in the woodshed in the middle of winter after something caused the house to be uninhabitable for a period or something (i don’t recall the details but given what she unearthed about him, my bet was he was just a drunk and set the place on fire while passed out, either from a lantern or smoking, died of smoke inhalation before he woke up). He built the foundation of the place himself and left a handprint in the mortar between the boulders, I assume that’s why my mom latched on to him to explain any weird stuff. At one point she found a silver baby cup and decided it was his from childhood for some reason. Anyway she tried doing seances and stuff, had a creepy friend who was taking advantage of her, you know the drill.

My bedroom faced the back of the property, and for four nights shortly after one of these seances and around the anniversary of the guy dying, there were bright lights moving across the top of my bedroom walls for hours, like cars were repeatedly driving by, but the only major road out that way was a highway several miles away, and light from the roads had never come in my windows before. And this light was really bright. Like the cars were driving by a town lot. The motion was too smooth to be someone with a flashlight, it had to be cars. Never happened again that I’m aware of.

I still don’t know how it happened, but it was in winter so I have to assume something about the conditions that week made the light carry farther than normal, maybe reflections or something carrying light from a different direction, coupled with super dry winter air. Very creepy timing. Probably wouldn’t have stood out in my mind if it hadn’t happened so close together.

On a long hike, pushed the whole 'stop and set up camp' thing way too late, so it's already dark as I'm starting to pitch the tent. Start feeling really uneasy like I'm being watched, so I do a quick sweep of my surroundings with my flashlight - and sure as shit two reflective eyes become visible for half a second before the critter that owns them gets spooked by light and runs off. Couldn't see the actual animal, just the eyes, but now I'm borderline shitting myself with fear, so I get in the semi-pitched-but-fuck-it tent and lay down listening for footsteps or something.

Never did hear footsteps, but about 20 mins later that little shit let out an incredibly loud and absolutely blood curdling scream... like, women getting actively murdered whilst screaming into a megaphone, kind of scream... right outside the tent.

Then nothing for the remainder of the night.

I get home and start searching the web for what the actual fuck that was: 99% sure I was being stalked by a cougar.

Was camping in Killarney Provincial Park with friends in uni. Woke up to hear noises in bush. Girlfriend got scared and I hushed her so I could hear what might be going on outside.

Lots of noise. Grunting. Brush moving, dirt being kicked around. Finally something hits our tent. Girlfriend screams.

It's Dave. Drunk as fuck and can't find designated shitter so after pissing in bushes, then pacing around deciding how to deal with stage 4 dook, decides to wake me for light and directions to shitter.

We all have a good laugh.

Wake up hour later, same thing. Fuckoff Dave. Dave? No. Blackbears.

I'll sometimes hear what sounds like eerie cries of agony coming from the woods. I looked it up, it turns it was just foxes.

I was camping by myself near the Indian Heaven Wilderness in the south Cascades and two owls were having a hootenanny for about 15 minutes, and it was echoing in the canyon. It was such a cool, spooky experience, I loved it.

I was wandering through a local forest during the summer. It was a beautiful day and being in the shade was real nice. I didn't know the route super well, so after a long hike I stop at a crossroad and wonder how to get back to the start. I rest for a bit and winder if I could take the overgrown path leading straight back to where I came from. The sun is also getting low, so I better hurry. I don't want to be in the woods at evening/night. I drink up and decide to get on it. The moment I wanted to set that thought in motion, I hear howling barks and growls above me. I look up the hills but can't see anything. Fuck the overgrown path, fuck getting adveterous and I hurry back the path I came from.

Was doing some geocaching deep in the woods at night when I saw a bunch of eyes reflecting back in the distance. It was definitely animals, since at least one pair followed me for a bit. But they kept their distance and I eventually lost them.

I've only been camping in a tent three times as an adult. I heard some interesting things. Never anything ur am legend worthy.

One was a bachelor's party. Some of the folks got into some things, I didn't partake. I was super anxious about the trip already. It was in the southern most part of the Appalachian mountains. Honestly probably not really even in the mountains. Maybe more in the Blue Ridge area. Anyways, it's quiet. I hear a weird noise. I immediately recognize as a helicopter. With no other sounds and being surrounded by hills and trees they sounds WEIRD! You can hear them from way further. It sounded so ominous. I jokingly turn to the group and ask "Is that the trumpet?" Implying the trumpets that will sound during the rapture. I think I sort of got a few of 'em before they realized what it was!

From that same trip I remember finally being in my tent alone. First time being in a tent alone. As a kid I always had a buddy in bot scouts or parent. I was so fucking cold. I forgot a mat to put my sleeping bag on. As I'm laying there cold, cold as hell, trying to not panic about being "alone" (because my friends are so close! Just in the other tents!) I just hear the wind. Again, in the middle of a quiet forest with only the wind creeping along my imagination takes over. I imagine it as a giant air serpent creeping along through the trees, weaving and rustling all the leaves.

The last one was with my wife for a friend's birthday party. We hear leaves crunch near the tent and hear little sniffs by our heads outside the tent. Based on the sounds I think it was a racoon or a opossum. So cute!

The other time we went camping was with my parents. They were in their RV and my wife and I just slept in the tent outside lol. It's the only time we brought our dog camping. She was such a good watch pup. Just sat on the bed, very alert. I think she was nervous. If she could talk she probably has weird stories about that night. It's interesting to think that all the noises you hear at a large campsite with RVs that you know are just folks doing stuff probably freak the dog out. She doesn't know. Even if she does, she knows she's supposed to protect us from people. Or at least thinks she does.

Not that scary, more just interesting. I was camping on a full moon near a creek with a lot of quail. For a while in the night I heard these periodic short screams, probably something hunting them and just hearing their last cry. I'm guessing the moon gave whatever more light to hunt with. It made me sad when it was happening but in retrospec it was kinda neat.

In the Southern Appalachians, if you hear something strange, no you didn't. You're alone, but you hear someone say your name, no you didn't. If you see something you can't explain, no you didn't.

Can't recall anything I've seen or heard that's out of the ordinary, nope. No I didn't.