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The original was posted on /r/nosleep by /u/BlankRobby99 on 2026-07-09 02:28:29+00:00.
I found myself awake way later than I should have been on a Wednesday night, but this was normal for me. I have always had really bad paranoia, ever since I was a kid. Even as an adult it never went away. It would often come in waves. Sometimes it would hardly be there, other times it was very much present. My paranoia would often affect my ability to sleep and I would stay up way past when I was supposed to go to bed, and tonight was no exception.
I was sitting on my bed in the dark listening to every noise I could hear in complete silence.
It was bad tonight.
I went to college and scored an amazing job that paid me wonderfully, but I was so stuck up on studying and doing my work I’ve never made any friends, or met any girls. It never bothered me, I liked being alone but sometimes I wish I had someone else around so I was less afraid. I live alone in a two story house and my room was on the second story so any sound would alert me and leave me unnerved.
Tonight I felt terrified and I had no idea why. It was fear of the unknown.
I looked over at the time, 2 in the morning. I sighed and cautiously started to lay down, being as quiet as I could while doing so. If I made too much noise, it would suppress the sound of something in my house or someone outside. I laid my head on my pillow and managed to calm my state of mind enough to start dozing off, still slightly paranoid. As I was just on the verge of sleep, I heard something.
crunch
I shot up, looking towards where I heard the noise. I was immediately set on alert since I was already on edge to begin with. The noise was coming from somewhere in the loft area, right next to my room.
I debated for a moment until I reluctantly decided to get up and quietly tip toe to the loft, but I didn’t see anything in there. Then I heard it again.
crunch
Being right at the window, I could unmistakably determine what it was. It was leaves crunching in my backyard. I had the window open so I would be able to hear any sound outside. The loft had a window showing a clear view of my backyard, whatever was outside was making zero attempt of being quiet since I could hear it a story up.
Was someone out there? Was it just an animal?
I was too nervous to look. As I was trying to convince myself it was just a squirrel or a deer, I heard it for a third time.
SNAP CRUNCH
It was much louder this time, and I was certain it wasn’t an animal anymore. I heard the snap of a stick being broken in half, and undeniably the sound of footsteps. Even where I was standing, far from the window I could see a faint moving shadow in the grass. The shadow of a moving man.
I slowly walked over to the window, the sounds not stopping and saw the source of the noise.
As terrified as I was, what I saw in my backyard confused me more than scared me for a brief few seconds.
I saw a hooded man, dancing like a ballerina in the dark with his back facing me. He was being graceful with his steps, and with the way he was moving he looked like he had long mastered what he was doing. He was holding a stick in his right hand moving it with his dance like it was a magic wand, walking while dancing all throughout my backyard. Almost like a fairy.
I stood there at the window just watching, completely vexed at what I was witnessing. Was this man on drugs? Was he drunk? All of these questions were rapidly overwhelming my mind and it was starting to put me in a panicked state. When you’re put in an unexpected situation, you often don’t think logically so my first thought was to shut the window.
I snapped out of my trance and gripped the top of the window frame. While panicking I accidentally slammed it shut in the process while backing away. The noise was loud and i heard it echo into the backyard for several seconds, even with the window shut. I was certain he had heard it.
I cautiously peeked outside and saw my fears were confirmed. He was now standing completely still, paused in his dance as if time had been frozen on him. Both of his arms up were above his head and he was standing on one foot, the other foot resting on his leg still with his back facing me.
I ducked down and immediately regretted closing the window, now I wouldn’t be able to hear him moving and he knew I was here. I quickly ran to my room to grab my phone and dialed the police. As I heard the line ringing I walked back into the loft, crawling so he wouldn’t see me through the window.
“911 what’s your emergency?”
“Hello? There’s a man in my backyar-“
Just as I was about to tell the operator what was going on, I took a look outside and suddenly stumped over my words.
He was now facing me, looking up at me much closer than I would have liked. He had both of his hands in his pockets and he was frowning like a cartoon character. Everything about him was human except for his eyes. They were just slightly too large to resemble a normal pair of eyes and he had no pupils.
We both stood completely still just staring at each other until the voice of the operator snapped me back to reality, but I didn’t look away.
“Hello? Sir are you there? Did you just say there is a man in your backyard?”
“Y-Yes. He’s standing outside looking up at me right now.” I could hear the fear in my voice.
“What does the man look like?” The operator asked.
“Uhh… he’s wearing a hoodie and he’s… tall. I don’t know I can’t tell it’s too dark.” I said.
I told the operator where I lived and with that, I was alone again.
As soon as I hung up the phone, the man’s frown slowly disappeared and he began dancing towards the back door. I instantly caught on what he was doing and I ran as fast as I could over to the door and for a moment, I was relieved. It was locked so he couldn’t get in.
Or so I thought.
I jumped out of my skin as I heard a loud pounding noise on the door, the door violently shook in its frame and I ran back upstairs. I had to hide, or try to protect myself somehow. I saw a closet and bolted towards it. Before I could shut it, I saw the door being beaten down and for a moment saw the man dancing inside, an angry look on his face.
It was quiet now, the only noise being the man dancing around the house. He was whispering my name peeping around different corners.
I’m 26 years old and I’ve never been this terrified in my life, nothing has even come close. The only thing I could do in that closet was hope he wouldn’t find me before the cops came. I felt helpless. This man was strong enough to break down my door with his bare hands so I had no idea what he was capable of. All I could do was hide.
I heard the stairs creak and I knew he was getting closer, his whispers becoming more and more audible as he walked. He walked straight to the closet I was hiding behind and stopped right in front of it.
He stopped whispering. He knew I was in here, his shadow barely noticeable from under the door.
I held my breath and was on the verge of tears. I had no idea what this man was going to do to me.
For a few moments all was quiet, the only noise in the house being the man’s breathing from the other side of the door. He was taking deep, measured breaths and sounded like he was gasping for air. Then I heard him walk in a different direction. I was relieved for a short second until I saw the door being violently slammed down and I watched as it fell onto the floor in front of me, but I didn’t see him anywhere. I slowly stepped out and looked around frantically, but found no one.
I couldn’t hear him or see him anywhere and I thought he was gone, but this thought quickly diminished when I saw a big shadow walk past my living room window downstairs. He was outside again, but how? He was just in front of me at the closet and he broke down the door, and now he was back outside.
This fact immediately made me not think this man was human, but I was afraid to accept it. In any other scenario I would have thought considering this man to be some supernatural being would be madness, but somehow i knew I didn’t need to think twice about it. I didn’t believe in stuff like this, but here I was being faced with it.
I saw another shadow moving up my loft window, then one downstairs, then one at my bedroom. Suddenly the entire house was shaking and I could hear footsteps on every inch of the house. The sound was piercing my ears and I covered them as hard as I could, just as I did I began to hear voices. Voices speaking to me in my mind, voices of people I once knew. My late grandfather, my mother, my entire family speaking in my head telling me I was a failure, telling me to give up.
They were telling me things I didn’t want to know, things nobody would ever want to know.
My entire family hated me. I was the burden of the family.
I would die alone, I would never find a partner or any friends
My father tried to kill me when I was a baby
My sister died when I was young, and my mother blamed me for it.
As these statements were enveloping my mind, I saw visions.
I saw myself in my room hung on a noose, dead.
I saw my mother get into a car accident, and watched the light fade from her eyes.
I saw my sister being murdered by one of my old childhood friends I haven’t spoken to in years.
I saw the hooded man dragging my body into an endlessly dark cave far into the woods, a smile on his face.
I thought it wouldn’t end, but eventually it did. All in all quick second. I slowly opened my eyes and saw the flashing of red and blue lights reflectin…
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