CAMPING HORRORS - Follow My New Show Featuring Hiking and Camping Horror Stories! 01:05:25

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Hey, I'm Darkness Prevails, founder of EerieCast Network and host of Unexplained Encounters and Tales from the Break Room. I'm here to announce that I'm hosting a new show called Camping Horrors, and it's out right freaking now.

In Camping Horrors, I narrate allegedly true and terrifying camping and hiking stories. Instead of background music, there's nature sounds to help you settle into the fear. So if you like outdoors horror stories and the relaxing sounds of nature, such as rain, storms, and campfires, then Camping Horrors is the show for you. As a treat, you're about to hear episodes three and five of Camping Horrors combined into an hour of terrifying tales.

If you enjoy what you hear, please follow and rate Camping Horrors on Spotify and Apple Podcasts, or find it on your favorite podcast app. You can also go to eeriecast.com. Now, throw a log on the fire, because the night is still young. The White Belt Legend, from Anonymous. I'm a purple belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. I'll just call it BJJ.

It's a grappling martial arts mainly used in MMA and in the UFC. It's the combination of using leverage and technique to beat bigger and stronger opponents. Now I won't bore you with the history of BJJ. I love it, and it's a hobby which actually makes me happy. And I like the types of people you meet and train with. I've competed in some grappling tournaments but nothing big. Now BJJ has surpassed traditional martial arts like karate and taekwondo for self-defense and fitness purposes.

Many companies and martial arts schools now incorporate BJJ into their curriculums. It's a worldwide phenomenon, often hailed as the most effective martial art in the world. And I intend to stick with it as long as I can. The belt system progresses from white belt to blue, purple, brown, black, and ultimately red. My teacher, John, is a black belt. He runs his own school.

He organized a weekend outing for his students, a camping trip into the forest.

Unfortunately, only four students, including myself, were able to go. John, though disappointed by the low turnout, proceeded with the trip. So there was me, John, Stuart, a brown belt with over three years of experience, Rob, a blue belt, and our newest member, Lewis, a white belt training for just two months. When we embarked on the trip, initially, everything seemed promising for a great weekend.

We set up our tents and supplies in a forest spot on a Friday. The evening began well, with beer, music, laughter, and stories from John's past competitions. As the night went on, we retreated to our tents. On Saturday morning, as we emerged from our tents, we noticed John hadn't yet come out of his. Upon checking up on him, we found something that had shattered the entire trip's atmosphere, and for some time, our lives.

John, our black belt instructor, had been choked to death, shocked, horrified. We all hesitated before involving the police. We wanted to understand what had happened before taking action. John was a black belt, highly skilled in BJJ, making it unlikely that any of us could have overpowered him and killed him. Suspicions arose due to some of us leaving our tents during the night.

Devastated, we scoured the forest for clues before alerting the police. When we regrouped, there were only three of us. Rob, Lewis, and I. Because next we found Stuart, also choked to death, near his tent. None of it made sense. The deaths of our best grapplers pointed to a skilled assailant, but who and why? Eventually, the police showed up.

The news shocked many, and the funeral had a massive turnout. Before John's school closed down, I organized a final roll on the mats with every student to honor his memory. The police were even baffled. Neither Rob, Lewis, nor I had the skill or strength to overpower John or Stuart to choke them to death like that. Unfortunately, only one other person attended the gathering, possibly due to grief. Surprisingly, that was Lewis, the new student.

The strange part about that was, I felt an unusual sense of pressure and technique. Though he was meant to be a white belt, he beat me and pinned me on the mat. With a smile, Lewis got up and left without a word. Disturbed and confused, I left and I would eventually join a new BJJ school. But nowadays when I spar, especially with white belts, I do so with caution.

Rolling with them seems to trigger stress and panic within me, but none I faced have ever had the same level of skill as Louis. What the implications of that might be, I don't like to think about, but I do know that I miss my old instructor and his school. Summer Camp From Anonymous I want to start off by saying that even though this event took place three years ago, I still get anxious when I think about it.

When I was around 11 years old, I went to this summer camp with my classmates. In the beginning, truthfully, it was a blast. We had a lot of fun. That was until one night. We began to hear the sound of footsteps around the shelter where my friends and I had been staying. It woke me up, but I was too afraid to get up and take a look to see who was out there. So I just lay in bed, listening to the footsteps around the shelter.

Eventually, I didn't hear the footsteps anymore. So only then did I decide to peek outside. But when I did, I saw someone. Someone I assumed to be a man, standing right in front of our shelter. I was creeped out. I woke up all my friends. But when I wanted to show the person to them, that person was gone. The next day, I kind of forgot about the event. Maybe because we were too busy.

That day, my friends and I were joining a group of rangers who took us into the wilderness, where we had the chance to walk around on our own. As long as we came back before 1500 hours, we went into the woods, expecting to see a lot of animals or some cool sights. However, the only thing we came across was a man. The man waved us down to come over to him.

I didn't trust this for one second, obviously, but one of my friends said that it would be rude to ignore him and not go over. Maybe he needed something. I told him he could go, but I was getting out of here. I was going to turn back to the rangers and tell them about everything, but it was too late. While my friends and I were discussing whether we should or shouldn't go to the man, the man probably figured that we didn't trust him. So he started to walk over to us.

I'll never forget the weird, huge smile on his face when he spoke. "Hey boys, wanna have some fun?" Right away I replied. "No thanks, my friends and I have to go back to the rangers." The man said, "Okay, and thankfully let us go." That was kind of surprising to me, but hey, you didn't hear me complain about it. That night I woke up to the sound of footsteps again.

This time I made sure to first wake up all my friends before taking a look outside to see what was there. When they were all awake, I decided then to look and see who was this person who woke me up two nights in a row. There was the figure again, and this time I could see his face. It was the same man we saw that afternoon. How did he know where we were staying?

One of my friends yelled the following thing, and pardon my French, but it's actually what they said. "Hey, pedo! Come closer and I'll stab the living crap out of you!" I kid you not. I looked over, and I saw him holding a huge knife. That may be what saved us, because when that man saw my friend's knife, he immediately booked it. The next day, we went to the ranger's to report the man. We never heard about him again.

The unsettling encounter remained a haunting memory for me, because I'll never know exactly what he wanted with us kids. My neighbor was a crazy person. From K.H. I live in a rural part of Texas, known as Waco. We have a small town that I live in called China Spring, and it's surrounded by forests and woods.

Recently, my parents decided to put a small fence up to keep our two dogs from getting in my neighbor's yard. Because they have two pit bulls and they attacked our cat once. We didn't want that to happen again with our dogs. The original fence that was there had started to rot. So we would have to replace the rotting boards on our side of the fence. Keep that in mind. Then we put up small metal chicken wire to keep them from getting out.

I went out to help build that fence, and before we even got the first panel removed, our neighbor came out screaming at us. She said horrible things to my dad about past struggles he had with alcohol and drugs, and even mocked him for being a cancer survivor. By that time I'd had enough. I told her to just get to the point. She raved on and on about how she didn't want to fence up and how it was our animals that were in their yard.

I tried to explain to her that this was our side of the property and that it was only going to keep our animals from getting in their yard. She wasn't having it. She started screaming at us again like she was some lunatic. Before long, we weren't listening anymore and we were walking back up to the house. From that point on, things have never been the same between us and our neighbors.

One morning, we finally called the fencing company to come in and put up a six-foot fence around our property and to install gates with passcodes so only we could get in. When the fence was put up, we had our own privacy again, and to be honest, it was nice, but not for long. We started to get phone calls from random numbers saying that we needed to take our fence down or bad things would happen and other stupid things like that.

One time I was home alone, and one of those numbers called again. This time the person said if we didn't take the fence down, we would receive a... visit. By that time I was fed up. So I called my brother who went to the local college in our town, and I told him about our neighbor problems. I asked if he'd like to come down and help me sort this out. Now, I know you're probably wondering why we didn't call the police.

Trust me, we did multiple times. But they said since it was a burn phone and was most likely destroyed, they would have a hard time tracking the line. When my brother came over to help me out, we decided we would camp out in his car and wait. That night, after a few hours, we were starting to get tired. After another hour or so, we finally saw my neighbor, the man, come out of his house and go into his garden shed.

If that wasn't sketchy enough, we fell asleep, only to wake up to the sound of clanking metal underneath the hood. Someone had popped our hood open, and when they shut it, we saw my neighbor standing right in front of us, a pair of pliers in his hands. He ran right away back toward the fence line, and my brother had full intentions of chasing him. We jumped out of the car and sprinted after him.

He tried to open his door and get into his house, but we caught him, wrestling him down to the concrete. His wife stood at the door screaming in horror. Then she called the pit bulls on us, still wrestling her husband. The two pit bulls jumped on us, starting to rip at us and bark. I heard my parents come out of the house. My dad started to yell for me to run.

But it was too late. One of the dogs had latched onto my hand and started to chew and tear at my arm. My brother finally got out of the other dog's grasp and freed me from the one that was biting my arm. To make a long story short here, three people rode in an ambulance that night to the hospital. My brother had to get stitches on his face and elbows where the dogs had chewed him up. My neighbor went to get x-rays for broken bones and head trauma.

and I had to get three surgeries on my arms to replace the tissue that had been damaged and the bones that had been broken and ripped. As for my brother's truck, apparently the neighbor had been tampering with the brake cables and gas and engine. Also what scares me the most is when we got home, we noticed that part of the fence had been broken into and the metal gate had been pried open to the point where an adult could squeeze past the bars.

It makes me wonder what could have happened if my brother and I never decided to camp out in this truck. Camper Nightmare from Anonymous. My family and I had been planning this camping trip for months. It was going to be our big summer vacation, a week spent in nature, sleeping in our camper and enjoying the great outdoors. My wife, Joyce, and I have two kids, a 12-year-old son named Tyler and a 9-year-old daughter named Amy.

The kids were so excited for this trip, and so were we. It had been a few years since our last camping vacation, and we were all ready for a break from the hustle of daily life. We packed up the camper and hit the road early Saturday morning. Our destination was a campground about four hours from home, one we'd stayed at a few times before. It was nice, because it had a lake for swimming and fishing.

It also had hiking trails and was generally pretty secluded, while still having some working utilities. After stopping for lunch along the way, we soon arrived at the campground in the mid-afternoon. We checked in, found our campsite, and got everything set up. Right away, the kids went to go explore, so we let them ride their bikes around while Joyce and I organized the camper, getting our outdoor kitchen ready for dinner. Before long, the mouth-watering scent of grilled burgers filled the air.

As the sun began to set, we ate our dinner and roasted marshmallows over the fire. The dark woods surrounding our campsite was peaceful. The only sounds were the crackling fire, the occasional call of a bird, and my family's voices and laughter. Before long, the kids began to yawn, worn out from a day of travel and adventure. We got them ready for bed in the camper. After that, Joyce and I sat by the fire for a bit, before turning in ourselves.

The next morning we woke up ready for a full day of activities. After a quick breakfast, we walked down to the lake to do some fishing. The kids got bored of that pretty quick, so they played in the shallow water near shore, while Joyce and I cast our lines. We didn't have any luck, maybe because the kids were playing in the water, but we enjoyed the tranquil morning. When we got back to the campsite, we decided it was time for a hike. There were a few different trails leaving from the campground into the woods,

We chose one that was listed as a family-friendly spot, and it would take us a few hours. The forest there was dense and beautiful. Tyler led the way while Amy picked wildflowers. Joyce and I held hands, taking in the sights and sounds. About halfway through the hike, we came across an old abandoned cabin. It looked as if it had been empty for years, with a crumbling chimney and caved-in roof. Amy wanted to explore it, but I thought it wasn't safe.

We paused there to have a snack before continuing on the trail. Something about that cabin gave me the creeps. I felt relief when it was out of sight behind us. The afternoon flew by. We left the woods and went for a swim, played some card games, took naps in the camper. Before we knew it, the sun was getting low and it was time to make dinner. Hot dogs and beans were enjoyed over laughter and campfire smoke. There's nothing better than that.

As the sky darkened, I noticed the woods seemed eerily quiet, like all the animals had suddenly disappeared. Or maybe they were hiding from something. A chill ran down my spine despite the heat of the fire. The kids must have noticed too, because Tyler said, "It's creepy out here tonight, huh?" Joyce and I glanced at each other with unease. Soon we were all ready to head inside the camper for the night.

As we got up to go inside, a shrill scream pierced the silence from somewhere deep in the woods. The kids shrieked and grabbed onto us. Joyce gasped. What was that? The scream sounded again, even closer and more blood curdling. My protective instincts kicked in. Get inside, now, I ordered. We rushed into the camper, and I locked the door behind us.

We huddled anxiously in the back, waiting. The screams echoed once more, then went quiet. We stayed awake all night, listening, but didn't hear the screams again. None of us got much sleep. When morning light finally crept in, we were relieved, yet still unnerved. Over a quick breakfast, we discussed packing up and leaving early, but the kids begged to stay one more night, promising not to wander too far from the campsite.

Joyce and I reluctantly agreed, but we said we'd leave first thing in the morning, whether the kids liked it or not. We spent that day sticking close to our campsite. I kept getting a creeping sensation that we were being watched from the woods. The family that occupied the neighboring campsite had apparently packed up and left sometime during the night when they had too heard the screams. I didn't blame them one bit.

As the sun began to set, I noticed a distant rumbling of thunder. Dark clouds were approaching. A summer storm was rolling in. We ate a quiet dinner, then went inside the camper, hoping to wait out the storm. The wind began to howl, lightning flashing brighter, thunder booming louder, and then the heavy rain started to pelt down. The storm soon became the least of our worries. Over the torrential downpour, a noise arose from the woods.

At first, it was barely audible, but it steadily grew louder, more pronounced. A ghastly moaning echoed around us, accompanied by the sounds of snapping branches and underbrush being trampled. My family cowered in the camper, terrified. "'What is it? What's out there?' Amy whimpered through tears. "'I don't know, honey,' Joyce replied shakily. "'Your father and I will protect you, okay?'

I clutched my shaking hands into tight fists, ready to defend my family from whatever evil lurked in those dark trees. The awful moaning and trampling grew deafeningly close before stopping just at the edge of our campsite. We held our breaths, bracing for attack. Suddenly, a bright light flashed outside the camper window, blinding us. A bullhorn squealed, "'Come out with your hands up!'

We stumbled out of the camper, stunned to see two police officers approaching us. Guns aimed warily at the tree line. "There is a dangerous animal on the loose, one that we've been tracking," one explained. "Please quickly pack up so we can escort you to safety." We didn't have to be told twice. We rushed to pack everything into the camper while keeping an eye out for whatever animal had been stalking us. Soon we were driving away, flooded with relief.

The kids fell asleep almost instantly after the terrifying ordeal. Once we felt safely far away, Joyce turned to me and whispered, "'Next year, I say we just go to the beach.' I wholeheartedly agreed. We never did return to those woods, and to this very day I wonder what kind of animal the police were tracking."

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My summer trip to Gettysburg from Anonymous. Let me explain a few things about myself. I'm a huge Civil War buff. I've always loved reading and watching documentaries about it. One of my favorite eras is the American Civil War. So naturally, when I was 12, I convinced my parents to allow me to reenact as a member of an Ohio regiment. I loved portraying the Union side, continuously learning more about the war.

and I made a lot of good friends doing it. I had a friend named Ed who portrayed a Virginia unit and would always try to get me to join them. So when I was 17, I contacted him because I wanted to start reenacting as a Confederate as a second impression. When I called him, he said he would help me out. He also told me he was going to do a living history event on the battlefield of Gettysburg and he invited me to come along. I was able to convince my parents to let me go. I was so excited.

This was going to be my first time spending the night at an event. We met up early on Friday and drove to Gettysburg. The whole ride was filled with stories of reenactments and history. It was pretty fun. We arrived at 7:30 and we met up with other guys in the unit. I stood and chatted with these guys, getting to know them. Let's call the leader of the group, Jack. Jack was a great and funny guy. There were also a few other guys, one of whom was named Thomas.

Thomas had been in some deep situations in Afghanistan during an offensive with the Marines. Now allow me to explain where we camped. It was called Spangler Spring. During that battle, it was a killing field. The Confederate forces charged across it to attack the Union on Culp's Hill. The spring and nearby Rock Creek ran red with blood from the dead and dying. It was a rather intense place to camp.

As we were setting up camp, the park ranger in charge of the program stopped by. He told us about what we were going to be doing the next day in terms of interacting with the public. He also mentioned there had been threats to tear down and deface monuments. He warned us to be on guard because these people meant business. Due to this, we decided to set up a picket duty, which involved standing guard with a fixed bayonet.

As the night went on, we got dressed in our period clothing and stoked up the campfire. We passed around beer and whiskey. We were all joking around, laughing, telling stories, before deciding to crawl into our tents. I'd drawn the short straw and was assigned the second shift of the night. This meant I would sleep for a little bit, then wake up for guard duty.

As I was heading to my tent, Jake pulled me aside, telling me that if fog started to come out of Rock Creek, not to go near it. Puzzled, I asked him why. He simply said, "'You don't want to know,' I replied with an uncertain, "'Okay,' and crawled into my pup tent. Around three o'clock in the morning, I felt a tug on my boot. It was Thomas. "'Hey, get your butt up. It's time for your shift,' he said."

So I crawled warily out and got ready. I stoked the fire as Thomas went into his tent. Time passed slowly as I stood there alone on the battlefield. I didn't know how long it had been, but I saw movement around one of the monuments. It looked strange and out of place. Being a teenager with a bit of alcohol in me, I thought I could take on whoever it was. Slowly, I left the camp and I went toward the monument. I aimed my rifle, hoping to scare the person off.

I saw them dart behind it. So I lunged forward, yelling a rebel yell, but nothing was there. I was puzzled by this. I tried to reason with myself. Then I noticed a fog starting to creep out of Rock Creek. It passed my feet and began to surround me. Soon, the air smelled thick with gunpowder.

Musket shots began to ring out. Orders were shouted. Black silhouettes of soldiers ran past me. They were falling, and moans came from them. I was scared, stiff. Fear ran through me. I felt like I was going to die. Then, bam, I felt something hit me in the stomach. I fell on my rear, screaming out. I lay there for what felt like hours. I looked toward our campsite, but I couldn't see the glow of our fire.

I tried to crawl away then but the pain kept growing. I passed out next to the monument. I woke up a few minutes later to see the fog retreating back to the creek. Then Jake came running from camp, dragging me back as the fog crept closer. "You okay kid?" he asked. "I had to take a leak and noticed you were gone. I saw a gap in the mist there. Weird stuff happens in there, right?" he explained. I said yes and I told him what happened to me.

He looked at me and he laughed. "We've all had our experiences, kid. It happens here. We just sort of tuck it away as an old story and move on," he advised. The fog never entered the camp, but did stay around it. We sat there and talked for the rest of the morning. Thomas came out of his tent and joined us. "You saw it, right? The horror?" he said. "Yep," I replied.

When someone dies a violent death like that, it just doesn't leave. Lives snuffed out in an instant. Something remains. Watching someone bleed out in your hands is a horrific experience. This place is saturated in that pain. "There's something here," he said. We stared at him in silence. He then changed the topic to work. Eventually, the morning arrived, and we went about our activities.

Other than this incident, it was a fun weekend. Gettysburg is a great family vacation spot and tourist attraction. The place remembers that a battle happened there. Thousands of kids fought and died over issues back then. Just because it's been over 150 years doesn't mean it's insignificant. There is something on that battlefield and it will always be there. Should have opened that door. From Tiny Teacher.

This incident occurred during a week-long camp with our class. I'm currently a teacher at the same school. When the bus arrived at the camp, there were separate cottages for the boys and the girls. After unpacking, we all headed out. Landon, being his usual troublesome self, was causing problems right from the start. Though he was disliked by about everyone, his exceptional athletic skills had prevented his expulsion so far.

Sarah, one of the best students, used to be somewhat reserved, making her a target for his bullying. One of the teachers, Mr. Bradius, was often seen with Sarah and defended her. As Landon taunted her, tears welling up in Sarah's eyes, the girls would rush over to console her. And on this occasion, Kim was even shoving and punching at Landon. The teachers intervened, separating them. Kim wore a rare smile, something only seen when he was with Elisa.

After things settled down, we began the camp activities. Landon excelled in competitions, of course, but remained an obnoxious presence. As night approached, Landon targeted Sarah again. He tripped her, causing her head to hit a rock and bleed. He then snapped on her ankle, adding injury to injury. Mr. Bradius intervened, grabbing Landon and tossing him several feet away. He picked up Sarah then, who was in tears and in pain.

They headed to his cabin. Bradius sternly ordered, "'Landon, don't you enter any cabin or cottage while we're here. Everyone, anybody who thinks of letting him in will be expelled.'" This was an unprecedented tone from the kind teacher. Sarah and Bradius entered the cabin, while the other teachers ensured Landon didn't enter any cabins. We closed the door and typical girl talk ensued. After about an hour, our conversation shifted to Sarah.

I asked. Do you think she's alright? Jessica snarkily replied, Well, she's with her crush now, so I'm sure she'll be fine. Some of the girls gasped. But Jessica continued, Oh, come on, don't act like you don't know. It's so obvious. Talia chimed in. Maybe he likes her too. Did you see how far he threw Landon? That was pretty epic. Elisa interjected with frustration. Of course that jerk would do that. Curious, I asked Elisa, What's wrong?

She responded, "'Landon is banging on the door, demanding to be let in,' LaShondra added angrily. "'He better not think of coming in here, after what he did to poor Sarah.' I felt uneasy and suggested, "'Maybe we should let him in this time.' This garnered surprised looks, but I gathered courage and continued, "'Something doesn't feel right.' Someone remarked that Landon was wearing white and had gone to the edge of the woods now. Moments after that, Landon began to bang on the door again.'

He sounded scared. "Guys, open up. Come on. It's coming closer." I got up, but Jessica stepped in front of me, fiercely opposing any intention to open the door that I had. Jessica warned me. "Don't even think about it." Undeterred, Landon pleaded. "Just let me in, okay? I'm telling you, there's something out here." Lashandra yelled back. "Not after what you did to Sarah. You're crazy if you think we'll let you in here."

Strangely, I felt compelled, and I said, "Guys, maybe we should just let him in." Jessica snapped, "You touch that door, I swear I'll kill you." I rolled my eyes and pushed past Jessica, reaching for the door handle. Landon exclaimed, "Oh my god, it's right there, open up!" His voice sounded strange. I withdrew my hand, and the others regarded me oddly. Landon continued to demand entry, but Jessica yelled,

"Get lost!" She slammed her fist on the door and shouted, "You hear me? Go away!" There were a few more noises, followed by silence. Our group went to bed shortly after. Morning arrived with teachers urgently knocking on our door. We dressed quickly and headed out. Sarah limped from Mr. Bratius' cabin, a bandage on her head. She smiled and walked towards us. I asked, "How are you holding up?" She replied with a smile.

Well, I've got a mild concussion, and my ankle's badly twisted. Can't really walk much. Mr. Bradius gathered our attention. As you can see, Landon isn't here. We need to find him, or there'll be consequences for the school. We were paired up and sent into the woods to search for Landon. After about 30 minutes, we heard a scream, and we all hurried towards it. The teachers closed off the area, a trail of blood leading through them.

Mario and Harris sat sobbing on the ground. At the end of the day, it was confirmed that the body found was Landon's. I still wonder if opening the door that night could have changed the outcome. But I'll never know for sure. Not one more night. From Morington88 Last month, my girlfriend Ella and I decided to go camping at Mount Shasta.

We're both into hiking and stargazing, so it seemed like the perfect romantic getaway. We drove up there on a Friday afternoon, found a nice secluded spot to set up our tent, and settled in as the sun started to go down. The woods got totally dark, and all you could see were millions of stars in the sky. It was so beautiful and peaceful, listening to the wind in the trees and the river flowing nearby. We cooked up some hot dogs in the fire pit,

We then cuddled up in our sleeping bags, Ella using my chest as a pillow. I'm not sure what time it was when I suddenly woke up. I heard people walking around outside the tent, their footsteps crunching on the twigs and dirt. There were hushed voices too, but I couldn't make out the words. My heart started to race. Who would be out here in the middle of the night, in someone else's campsite? The footsteps circled the tent once, then again.

The voices kept whispering. I remained frozen, staring wide-eyed at Ella, who was now awake and silent too. We were both petrified, just lying there, clutching each other silently. After a long and stressful while, the footsteps finally stopped near where Ella was sleeping. Then, someone leaned against the tent wall, right by her head. I swear I could hear them breathing.

A million scary thoughts went through my mind. Were we about to get attacked? Robbed? Kidnapped? Every muscle in my body was tense. After leaning against the tent for a few more moments, I heard whoever it was finally walk away. Ella and I just lay there clutching each other, hardly daring to even breathe. My heart continued to pound. I kept listening for more footsteps, but it stayed quiet.

Eventually, I started to relax, thinking maybe they were gone for good now. But then, I heard multiple sets of footsteps approaching again. They stopped near Ella's side of the tent once more. Pressing up against the wall, some person started to slowly drag their fingers across it. Back and forth, they squeaked across the fabric. I realized with horror, they must be drawing some kind of symbol or picture. But why? What were they doing?

This went on for too long before the group finally retreated back into the woods. The sky was just starting to get light as Ella and I waited, still frozen, still scared, waiting for any sign or sound that they had returned. But we heard nothing except some birds chirping. As soon as it was fully bright out, we hurriedly crawled from the tent, looking around frantically. The camping area looked the same,

But as I did a wider sweep, I noticed strange symbols carved into several of the trees. There were also odd markings traced in the dirt around the fire pit. We went to check the spot on the tent where the person had been standing for so long, drawing. We found something. Right at Ella's head level was a symbol painted on the outside of the tent in what looked horribly like blood. I didn't recognize the symbol at all.

Some odd crisscrossing lines and a sort of star shape in the middle. After seeing that, we threw all our gear hurriedly into the car and sped back down the mountain, terrified. Who were these people? What did they want with us? We drove straight to the nearest ranger's station. We told them what had happened. The ranger's expression turned grim when we described the symbol left on the tent, which was four circles and a cross in the middle.

He said another couple camping at Mount Shasta a few weeks back had come to him with a similar story. Footsteps, whispering voices surrounding their tent at night, waking up to strange symbols carved and drawn everywhere. Against the ranger's strong advice, that couple had decided to stay another night in a different spot, thinking it was just a creepy prank. However, the man returned the next day, alone, his wife gone.

He said his wife had been dragged screaming from their tent in the night and vanished into the dark woods. Days of searching by rangers and police turned up no trace of the woman, except for her torn night clothes a few miles from the campsite. The ranger we spoke to said he suspected occult activity based on the symbolism found at both campsites. My blood ran cold. Had we accidentally stumbled onto some kind of ritual grounds?

were they going to try to abduct us too in the following weeks neither ella nor i could get the terrifying experience out of our heads i tried searching online for references to the symbol left on our tent thinking i could at least glean some meaning from it but i found nothing in any occult databases no matches to satanic or pagan rituals ella suffered horrible vivid nightmares where robed and hooded figures emerged from the woods at night to drag us away into the dark

I could barely sleep for a while either, constantly feeling watched whenever I went outside, even in broad daylight. What do these people want from us? Who or what are they worshipping out there? It all remains a chilling mystery, but one thing's for sure, evil lurks in those woods, claiming innocent lives.

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Nightwalker

From C Philly 100. After a recent discussion with an alumnus from a previous supply caravan to Black Mesa on the Navajo reservation, it has come to my attention that one of the gals who accompanied the caravan a couple years ago had a very curious experience. I was able to get her contact information, let's call her Amanda, and I interviewed her about the encounter.

In an effort to be respectful of the culture and the taboo nature of the subject matter, we decided to change the names and categorization of whatever this is that she experienced down there. Just a bit of background.

There's a company called Peabody Coal Mining, which leases tracts of land in and around Black Mesa, and the landscape is one of shallow topographical relief, marked by dry draws and arroyos, which are essentially dry creek beds that flood during periods of heavy rain. Which, granted, is not a very common occurrence in the high deserts of Arizona. The following is Amanda's experience, as she told me.

One afternoon, I was trying to retrieve a lamb who had escaped from the enclosure. I got myself quite turned around. I couldn't seem to retrace my steps back to Johnny's compound, where his parents' hogan was located. I was following an arroyo, hoping it would lead me to a road. When I started to have an asthma attack, I think that I started hyperventilating, and I had a full-blown panic attack because I soon lost consciousness. When I came to, it was nighttime.

I stood up and I looked around. I then heard something like a twig snapping behind me. I turned around to look then. In the pale moonlight, I thought I saw something duck behind a tree. It looked like the dark shape of a person who had been peering around the tree but withdrew when I noticed it. But I could tell that it was still there. I called out. Hello? Silence. Hello? Is someone there?

"I'm with the Colorado Caravan. I think I'm lost." I laughed nervously. "Can you help me?" After a moment or so, the figure peered back out around the tree. Only this time, it appeared to be my friend, Charlie from the caravan. The figure stepped out from behind the tree and motioned me to follow. Thinking that Charlie had been sent to bring me back to camp, and still feeling rather disoriented, I started to follow the figure back up the draw.

We'd been walking for maybe 5 to 10 minutes, when another figure seemingly materialized from the shadow out in front of us. I felt a bolt of pain, like a severe migraine, so I had to stop. When I looked up again, there were three more figures. They were now standing in a semi-circle before me. Now, the figures didn't look human at all. Rather, they looked like large coyotes.

and I could see ten eyes looking back at me in the dim, silvery light. I started to stumble back, but the coyotes made no move to follow as I turned away. I ran for maybe five minutes before I stopped to catch my breath. I heard another twig snap, and I looked back to see one of the coyote's shapes silhouetted up on the ridgeline. Back in the direction I came, to my horror, the coyote appeared to stand up on its hind legs.

Then, it let out a bone-chilling scream. I've heard other people describe this before, but it almost sounded like a coyote howl, magnified through a megaphone, then distorted with a heavy reverb-like sound effect. My head was pounding, but I truly felt in fear for my life, so I kept running.

Eventually, I came to a service road, and I was able to flag down a Peabody mine worker who was driving down the road in a work vehicle. I convinced him to give me a ride, telling him our caravan leader, Buck, could explain the situation to his manager if need be. As I climbed into the cab and we started to drive, I looked in the rearview mirror. There, I saw those eyes, reflecting the red brake lights from behind the truck.

I don't think they followed us, but I couldn't be sure. So when the mine worker dropped me off at the compound, I ran into Johnny's parents' Hogan, which is a big no-no for non-natives. But I did not know where else to go, and I was still so very scared. Johnny's parents only spoke Diné, but I was finally able to express the gist of what happened in between broken sobs and sniffling.

I saw Johnny's father's face go pale as he realized what I was trying to say. He then quickly shushed me and went to look out the window. Johnny's mom went to the stove, collecting a small pan of ashes, which she dumped out on the table and began to dip bullets into the white ash, loading them into a .357 revolver. She was singing what I can only assume was a Denae prayer for protection while looking worriedly at me.

They let me sleep inside, and nothing more happened that night. In the morning, they called a medicine man to come and pray over me. We still had a couple nights left, but decided to cut the trip short after that. Johnny said not to worry, that the walkers wouldn't bother them anymore, now that we were leaving, and that he was just glad I was okay. Suffice to say, I won't be going on any more caravans anytime soon. Hollows Creek, from DK

The year was 1999 in St. Paul, Minnesota. I was 14 years old, and I've had a friend and neighbor since childhood named Spencer. Spencer was Hispanic, and he was a pretty naughty kid. Always getting in trouble, and he sometimes got me in trouble with him as well. Even though he was naughty, he was a good friend since childhood. One day, we decided not to go to school. We lied that we were sick to both sets of parents.

We knew that our parents went to work so we could hang out together. Spencer and I rode our bikes around and went to see one of our friends named Justin. Justin's family was pretty well off, and he too had lied to his parents that he was sick. So Spencer, Justin, and I rode our bikes around the neighborhood, to the parks, and so on. We always went to the junkyard to look for scraps and other stuff for us to use or build something crazy.

We decided to go there, and when we made it to the junkyard, Mr. Fitzgerald knew us very well, and always allowed us to come in and look for scraps. While we were looking for things, I discovered a BB gun with a bag full of pellets. Quite the find for us. I called Spencer and Justin over and showed them what I found. The three of us were amazed, but we decided not to tell Mr. Fitzgerald what we found. We just told him we'd stop by again some other time, and we left.

Now, we had a secret hideout that no one knew about except us. We found this place when we were younger, and we called it Hollow's Creek. Basically, it was a small pond well-hidden in a dense forest surrounded by land, small trees, and grass around the pond. It was like our fortress of solitude.

When we got there, we shot that BB gun around like crazy. At trees, at the ground, at the pond, and even up in the air to see if it would fall back down. We had so much fun that day. We just hung out at Hollows Creek for most of the day until it was time for us to go home. And when that time came, we left the BB gun there and we all went home. A few days later, on a Friday after school, Spencer, Justin, and I decided to add a new friend to the group.

Her name was Emily. She was a good friend of Justin's. We decided to take Emily to our secret hideout at Hollows Creek. We'd brought sleeping bags, snacks, and drinks. We had a small camping trip down at Hollows Creek. As we camped, we didn't know how to start a fire, so we decided to use flashlights instead. Truth be told, it got pretty creepy there at night. It was starting to get dark, but we were eager to stay and camp through the whole night. The time was soon 10 p.m.,

It was just Spencer, Justin, Emily, and me. We'd brought a tent for the boys to sleep in, and Emily had brought her own. But we set up the two tents close together, just in case Emily got scared. Or one of us did. Spencer grabbed the BB gun, leaving it in our tent. We said our goodnights and we all went to bed then. At about 3am in the morning, I was awakened by the sound of the zipper of our tent opening. It was Emily. She was trying to come into our tent,

From the way I saw her face, she looked scared, terrified even. I was worried, so I asked, "Emily? What's wrong? What's going on?" She replied, "Someone's out there, and they came and touched my tent." I was scared then too. So I woke up Spencer and Justin, telling them what Emily just told me. We were all together, looking around while we were inside the tent.

Justin said, "'Spencer, grab the BB gun. We may need it.' So Spencer listened. He went over and grabbed it from under his pillow. He even pumped up the air on it. The thing was ready to shoot at anything that came close to us. That was when someone or something came and touched the tent. Spencer turned and shot the BB gun. The pellet went through the tent. It was a direct hit, but we heard the most terrifying scream imaginable.'

The scream was coming from everywhere around us all at once, and there was a sudden smell of smoke, like something was burning. We all screamed together as well. Then we all ran out of the tent, gathering our things in a hurry. We were so frightened. We got on our bikes and we left Hollows Creek. We all went to my place and spent the night there, but I don't think we slept at all. We stayed up all night, talking about what we had just witnessed at Hollows Creek.

After that day, the four of us never went back there. We lost our little secret hideout. The night we stayed at my place, we didn't know what we encountered. All we did know was that we witnessed something terrifying. Years went by. Emily and I are married now, actually. And we have three beautiful girls. But that encounter back at Hollows Creek when we were kids? I'll never forget it. Crazy Woman on Holiday from Messiah Riot.

Something happened a few weeks ago that I still can't explain. I woke up feeling groggy after a hard day at work, but since it was Saturday, I took my time getting out of bed when my phone suddenly rang. It was my brother. I answered and immediately heard, "'Hey, how are you doing?' With my groggy head, I replied, "'Man, I just woke up.' "'What's up?' He replied after laughing. "'Okay, bro, so we both don't have anything to do this weekend, right?'

I answered. "Yeah, I know. Do you have a plan?" "Sounds like that's why you might have called me." He then replied. "Yep. We're both free for the weekend, and the old man is free anyway because he's retired. So why don't we guys just go have a good time in Germany on a beer tour?" Sounded fun to me, so of course I agreed. We scheduled the trip, and a few days later, we were off driving to Germany. On the drive there, there were loads of laughs and drinks. We were thoroughly enjoying the trip.

One photo after another, capturing moments of a man in his 70s traveling with his sons. All of us living in the moment. Days were spent indulging in beer and fun, until we arrived at a hotel near the Black Forest. That's where an ex of mine apparently happened to work. Upon entering the hotel, Ginny immediately recognized me. She ran towards me and wrapped her arms around my neck. Pulling back slightly, I looked her in the eye and exclaimed, "'Oh my gosh, Ginny! You look great!'

My dad and brother exchanged odd looks, prompting me to explain. "Oh, uh, this is Ginny from way back at the camping site we used to frequent when I was young. You remember, Dad." Ginny chuckled and explained that her husband owned the hotel, meaning she did too, and she declared that we'd all earned free drinks for the night. We thanked her wholeheartedly and indulged in a wild night of drinking. My dad was the first to retire to bed, followed by my brother after a couple more drinks.

Before taking off, my brother handed me a key to one of the rooms, saying, "'It's all yours, man.'" As I took it from him, my attention was drawn to a stunning young woman with black hair who kept her gaze downward. Ginny warned me about her, saying, "'I knew a girl like her would capture your attention, but let me warn you, sweetie. She and her friends can be bad news.'" I turned to Ginny and asked, "'What do you mean by that?'

She took a shot of Jaeger, fixing me with a serious look as she explained, "'There's word that she and her friends are in a coven. And, well, the Black Forest is nearby.' Finishing the last bit of my rum, I responded, "'Well, if you remember me as well as you did when we were together, you know how I feel about those things.' Ginny's demeanor changed. She grabbed me by the arm and insisted, "'Trust me on this. You know my feelings have always been right.'

Sighing, I conceded, "I know, but you also know me." She smiled, handed me the key to the hotel, kissing my forehead and admitted, "I'll let you stay here free forever if you manage to survive this night with her." With that, she guided me towards the black-haired girl and we struck up a conversation. As we shared our interests over drinks, she invited me to join her and her friends for a trip into the Black Forest. I paid for her orders and we made our way into the woods.

Upon reaching the forest, she sprinted ahead like a wild animal in pursuit of fresh prey, leaving me struggling to keep up. Eventually, I actually lost sight of her. At that point, I was surrounded by darkness. I called out her name, and eventually I heard a giggle. That was odd, so I quickly took cover in some foliage. I remained still until the giggles ceased. Only then did I emerge from my hiding place. I spotted this flickering light.

I was drawn towards it, though I would soon regret this decision. As I approached, I realized that something was amiss. Eight women stood in a circle around a large fire, and among them was the black-haired girl I was meant to be with, holding an unmoving cat. The women began chanting something, leaving me initially stunned, but I managed to regain my senses.

Considering fleeing back to the hotel, I took a step back, but accidentally stepped on a branch, causing it to crack. All the women turned their attention to me, and the forest grew silent. Suddenly, they erupted into screams in unison. Panicking, I turned and sprinted back to the hotel, their screams hauntingly trailing behind me. Upon reaching the familiar streets, the screaming ceased, but I continued to run until I made it back to the hotel.

Using my key, I entered my room without hesitation. An hour later, there was a loud banging on my door that jolted me awake. Peering through the peephole, there stood the same black-haired girl. Her face now contorted with horrific anger, and I swear her eyes turned red as she stared at me, her demonic voice demanding, "Open up, now." Somehow, something compelled me to comply.

I opened the door, and she rushed into the room, her face inches from mine as she uttered in that horrifying voice, "You saw nothing, and you'll let me keep walking your plane." Stepping back into the hallway, she remained unblinking, her black hair obscuring everything but her eyes. Suddenly, the front door slammed shut, but when I looked through the peephole again, she was gone.

The following day, I recounted the night's events to Ginny, and she arranged for a new room for me. I did encounter the black-haired girl again a few more times, but it was as though the fateful night had never happened to her. I never told my brother, nor my dad, about the incident, but I believe that the black-haired girl was part of the coven, and that she was possessed that night.

Thank you for stopping by at our little campsite here at Camping Horrors. To hear your story on the show, send it to us for narration at darkstories.org. For more narrations from me, you can catch me on my other podcasts, Unexplained Encounters, and Tales from the Break Room, on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or your favorite podcast app. Or you can go to eeriecast.com for those and even more terrifying podcasts.

Follow me on X, formerly Twitter, at Dark Prevails. And be sure to leave Camping Horrors a rating and review on Spotify and Apple Podcasts. Now then, I'll see you soon when the campfire blazes once again.