I’ve had my fair share of creepy moments in my life. I remember hearing voices and strange sounds at night when I used to visit my great Aunt Susie in Memphis. I remember a time when I seriously thought a feral gray cat with a scratch over its left eye was hunting my sister and me, and that’s before I even knew I was allergic to them. I even remember driving down a dark, seemingly deserted, road on my 16th birthday, seeing what my friends and I thought were dead wrapped bodies being pulled out of a ditch on the side of the road. Most of the creepy events in my life were as real as the hair on my head, but were never actually confirmed.
The three most creepy and confirmed moments in my life didn’t involve strange voices or sounds, but I’m pretty sure I’d be haunted by them to this day, had my friends not stuck by my side through it all. I won’t be able to talk in detail about these creepy encounters, but I can tell you about one of them.
Imagine being the little sister of the most popular girl in school. You’ve always been assumed to be older than you are, which only makes your life harder now that you’re in high school surrounded by horny boys who don’t care that you’re actually only 14. You’re a smart girl, active in the science club and other social and academic after-school programs. After about a semester, you begin to feel like maybe, just maybe, it’ll be okay just being you. You don’t have to worry about trying to be cool like your sister or dating some guy because people expect you to.
One morning at your locker, you notice a piece of paper hanging out. When you open the locker, it falls to the floor. You pick it up and open it to reveal a drawing of you. Already your mind is set to thank the friend you think drew it, even though you wish he hadn’t made your body seem so mature. You begin to tense up when that friend adamantly denies drawing the picture, but tells you it looks good and take it as a compliment. A few days go by with more pictures showing up in your locker.
One day after school, while preparing for the winter show, a student you’ve seen before but don’t really know tells you that some guy is in the building looking for you. Your friends scoop you up and take you home right away. The next day another note with a flower is taped to the inside of your locker and all the after-school students are talking about the boy who used to go to school there and how he walked all the way back to find some girl before he was escorted away.
That’s when you decided it was time to get parents and teachers involved. After a few meetings and the issue of a key lock for your locker, you finally figured out who your “admirer is.” You remember being nice to a boy at the beginning of the school year. He was upset that he hadn’t made the JV football team and that his parents were splitting up. He’d said, “I’m glad I have to go to a new school. It’s not like I have any friends here.” Then you remembered your response – “Too bad you have to move. We were just getting to know each other. I hope things work out at your new school.” You were nice to him because he was having a bad day, but you didn’t even know his name.
After a few weeks had gone by and no more notes were found and no sightings of the boy were reported, you eased up and rejoined the world. That’s when he found you at the mall and asked why you were avoiding him. You called for security. They removed him and you stayed home for a few more days. Eventually you learned that the boy was seeking counseling and had agreed to stay away from you.
Well, I can imagine all this because it happened to me. In the long run I was blessed. He never tried or succeeded in harming me or anyone I know. The crazy thing is that was just one of three encounters I had with stalkers in my youth. Through it all, my family and friends stuck by me. Unlike so many others who experience this, no one ever questioned me about what I did to lead them on or alienated me because I kept attracting “weirdos.”
So that’s it – one of the most creepy moments of my life. Sorry there were no ghosts or ghouls to speak of. I mentioned the support of my friends throughout this experience to express the importance of friendship. I include it as a major theme in everything I write, from my speculative series, Eternal Curse, to my new and latest release, It’s Like the Full Moon, a contemporary romance. In my latest book, released under the name Glorie Townson, I don’t tackle stalkers, but I do test the limits of these friends and they all prove to be “true blue.”
What is the creepiest moment you’ve experienced? Did your friends and or family believe you and/or stick with you through it?
ABOUT THE BOOK
Rebecca has just turned thirty. She’s happy living a perfectly comfortable and predictable life. She’s even ready to marry her long-time boyfriend whenever he finally gets around to asking her. But all that changes when her best friend whisks her away to Italy for a much-needed vacation.
In the midst of site seeing and finally letting loose, Rebecca manages to catch the eye of a young English tourist; but doesn’t let it go to her head. By the time she’s back in the States and back in the arms of her long-time beau, Rebecca has already forgotten about Peter, Paten, Paul…whatever his name was, that is until he shows up at her brother’s cabin in the woods.
A life of normalcy, routine, and stability gets turned upside down as Rebecca decides whether or not she’s truly ready to get married. And if so, who is the one she’s really meant to be with?
You can purchase It’s Like the Full Moon on Amazon.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Glorie Townson is more than just a pen name for the author, Toi Thomas; she’s an entirely different personality. Glorie is the softer side of Toi, who puts down her comic books and picks up a volume of Robert Frost poems. Like Toi, Glorie is happily married to her wonderfully supportive husband, and together they share a home with their pet turtle, Betty. This is Glorie’s first publication, but she’s already feeling the inspiration to pen another tale, which she’ll gladly share with the world.
Website & blog Amazon Goodreads Facebook Twitter (@toithomas) Google+ Tumblr
Yikes! I would say he was a ghoul and a mixed up one at that! I am glad nothing more happened and the your guardian angel was with you and the other times even the spooky ones you mentioned at the beginning.
Thanks for that. I’d like to think my guardian angel helped out a lot.
Real life stalkers are scarier than any ghost. Glad that boy was handled by the right people.
I know. For a while there I wondered if I’d done something wrong, but in time I realized that I hadn’t.
Stalkers scare me too. Creepy? predictive dreams…
Sometimes I’m leery about being too nice to people, men in particular, but decided that would make me a bad person.
Yikes. A narrow escape.
You are so lucky that everything turned out okay.
There are some horrendous stories of stalkers and their victims.
Yeah, I know. I’ve heard a few and can’t imagine going through that. My experience was scary enough.
I think I stalker bis far creepier than a ghost or ghoul. I can’t even imagine. I watched the show Stalked and it terrified me that people could do those things. I’m glad he never hurt you or your family. And that they stuck with you through those three stalkers. Thanks for sharing your story with us, Toi.
Thanks for letting me share. I still run into people from high school who remember it happening. Some of them joke about it like it wasn’t that big of a deal, but my family gets it and they don’t joke about it.
Thank you so much J.H. for letting me share today.
You’re very welcome! Thanks for writing such a great post, and good luck with your new release. I wish you many sales.
I’ve never experienced anything so creepy. Wow. It sounds awful, but it also sounds like you came through the experience with flying colors.
Thanks for sharing!
Heather
Yes, I did. I was very blessed.
Yikes. Very scary. Real-life scary. I’ll take a ghost any day over a stalker. I wrote a YA book about it called “I Can Make You Love Me” but it never got published. The book did not end well. I had a guy with a crush on me who was very persistent when I was a teen. Luckily he finally backed off but it was tough because you don’t want to hurt someone’s feelings but being nice seemed to only encourage him.
I’d love to read that book, Stephanie. That’s just the sort of book teenagers need to read. It happens so often, sadly.
I agree with J.H. Your book sounds great. It’s hard to be a teenage girl in so many ways, and then you try to be nice to someone and end up regretting it. I still have trouble smiling at men. It drives me crazy when people tell me to smile all the time. They have no idea what’s going on in my head.
This book gets recommended a lot, but since it hasn’t already been mentioned here, I’ll suggest it: “The Gift of Fear,” by Gavin de Becker, is a terrific book for anyone in this sort of situation (including much milder and more severe versions). More info here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Gift_of_Fear — and thanks for sharing that story.
Thanks so much for the recommendation, Randee…and for commenting.
Nothing scares me more than the idea of being stalked by someone. It happened to me once and I still get twinges of panic when I think of it.
I’m sorry to hear that, Lee, but I can relate. It’s terrifying.
I’ve also been stalked once, and it’s creepy as hell. It’s years later now and I still keep looking over my shoulder.
Happy New Year, ladies!
Sorry to hear, Misha. No woman (or any person, for that matter) should have to go through that.
Happy New Year to you too!
I too had a stalker in high school. His sister was my friend and one day she told me his room was covered in picures of me. He was buying some from the yearbook staff and taking pictures at different activities I was involved in. Tons of me from cheerleading. He had collected them over three yrs and even stole a few. One night when my dad was out of town i was sleeping in my moms room with her. When we turned off the light we could see him hiding in the shadows of the building across the street watching our house. This went on for at least 6 months. The police did drive bys for us sometimes and i wasn’t allowed to go anywhere alone. Finally my very large boyfriend and his friends got together and caught him in the act and chased him away telling him they would do bodily harm if he didnt stop. The creep factor was super high. He called me cold when he found out i moved home after college. I told the police and never heard from him again. Fast forward 20 yrs…The past couple of yrs he got an arm cut off and was caught trying to lure an 11 yr old into his truck. The courts are finally keeping an eye on him. When i went off to school I heard he did the same behavior with another gal. I’m so sorry you went through that awful experience. It is horrible to feel poached.
That is a really creepy story, Kelli! I’m glad you were able to escape him unscathed.