Reader Submission: Night Watcher

“I was up in the mountains with my dad and my dog for a long weekend. We rented a tiny little scenic cabin, made almost entirely of glass. The door didn’t even lock. Right next to the house, basically the backyard, was a small river. On the other side was a cement dam. It flowed under the small road that was nearby. It was also in a ravine, where there were giant mountains all around, and we were at the bottom.

We hung out until night time then went to sleep. Around one in the morning, my dog woke me up because he needed to go outside. It was really cold, so I got all bundled up and put his leash on. I also grabbed a torch because there were absolutely no light sources outside. I went out past the deck into the grass right next to the river and turned my light on. I moved my light all along the edge of the mountain. Suddenly I saw something on the dam on the other side of the river, and I did a double take. A man was standing on the dam. I guess he was a man. He didn’t have a face and was dressed all in black. He wasn’t far away at all. We stared at each other for awhile. He didn’t react at all to my shining the light directly into his eyes. After a minute, I did the stupidest, most horror movie cliche thing ever. I called out, ‘HELLO?’. I thought he might have been ice fishing or walking his dog, but when he didn’t move or respond I realized he wasn’t doing either.

I booked it back inside. I jammed a chair under the door handle, but I knew there wasn’t much I could really do since the whole house was made of glass. I woke up my dad. He is legally blind, and so it took him forever to get his glasses. Finally, he looked outside. He said he saw the man (I thought I might have been going totally nuts), but he didn’t know what to do. Then he went back to bed. I didn’t know what to do either. I thought about calling the police, but what would the police do? The man wasn’t technically doing anything wrong. He was not on our property or hurting anyone (yet), so I couldn’t call them. I just watched out the window. He stared straight at me for hours. He actually moved and turned toward my window.

After about two hours he walked back up the hill and down the road. I was so relieved. I thought he was gone. I went to get a glass of water, and on the way past the window, there he was. Right back on the dam. He stayed there for another hour or so.

Then came the part that was truly supernatural. He walked a few feet towards a tree, but never went past it. Instead, one leg and one arm swung forward then smoothly slid back behind the tree. Over and over again. It looked like his pants and jacket had been stuck to the tree and were reacting to strong bursts of wind… but there was no wind to speak of. After that, he disappeared, around five in the morning.

I still don’t know what happened or what that was. I thought for a while about it being a Slender Man, but it doesn’t exactly fit the bill. It wasn’t tall and skinny enough. There was definitely supernatural, though. It happened in Colorado.”

For more chilling tales, check out Creepy Stories from the Woods. Have you ever had a haunting experience in the Great Outdoors? Tell your story here! These sorts of stories are my favorite, and I’d love to hear them.