Relax, everyone knows that if you make it to the top of the stairs before he catches you, he's obligated to turn around and go back to the basement.

You have to fake it out. For example, our washer is in the basement, so I always say "oh I guess I'll have to come back down in a second with another load" before I run up the stairs.
There is no other load! In your face, basement monster.
It must work, as I am as yet undevoured.

Good read

The stairs in my basement have no "back" to them for the bottom half. Perfectly designed for something to reach out and grab my ankle on the way up.

Funny story; my dad heard me running like hell up the stairs, and held the door closed. I started checking the door and crying, even though he only held it shut for less than 5 seconds.

I worry about it grabbing my ankles through the spindle-things on the handrail even when I'm near the top.

The bar I work at is in a ~100 year old building downtown. At the end of the night we have to bring trash, bottles, etc downstairs to the basement which extends throughout the entire building, it's huge. Most of the lights are motion activated, and sometimes they turn on, sometimes they don't. The rumor is that the ghost is named Charlie, and will turn the lights on for you if he likes you, and also if you sing the theme song from "Charles in charge".

On the weekends it's not too bad, people still upstairs that would potentially hear me screaming like a girl... But on my Tuesday night shift. 2 am, and most likely no one in this entire downtown office building. It's a different kind of eerie. Dead silent, except for the sounds of an old building. The lights on our side are manual, and once they're off, who knows what the hell will happen with the rest, and the path to the elevator.

I still don't feel comfortable down there by myself during the week. Once the elevator is open I jump in, knife in my hand, sprung against the inside wall while I anxiously await the closing of the elevator door, and my return to the surface.

I've survived another week.

Charles in charge of Our days and our nights.

Charles in charge of Our wrongs and our rights.

So I say I want Charles in charge of me.

Plot Twist: You actually did get killed by a basement murderer. You're actually a ghost trapped in an endless cycle of running, terrified, up your basement stairs.

.... and posting on Reddit. I guess.

So if you want to go into the basement, you'd have to descend the stairs in pitch black? Fuck that, that's worse, what if the killer is standing next to the light switch?

If your bathroom has no window, close the door, put a towel underneath it so no light gets in, turn off the lights and take a shower. It's super relaxing once you stop thinking about what could be hiding in the darkness.

When I was nine, I read this weird tales comic book or something that had this kid freaked out about the basement of his new house. Every night, there was a voice calling him that would emanate from the laundry chute which led to the basement. He'd freak out and tell his dad who would tell him to go back to sleep. Finally, he had badgered his dad enough that dad was like, "Let's go down to the basement together and we'll see that there's nothing there." So the go look, and of course, there's nothing there. The next night, the boy hears the voice calling him, and to show his dad that he's brave, he goes down alone. The next panel shows dad calling his son, looking all over for him, and shows the inside of the furnace with the boy's burned remains. Yeah, I don't like basements.

I had this friend who's little brother had this same fear and always hated going into the basement to get things because of like monsters and some shit. We always made fun of him for it. Funny thing though, same kid went out playing alone in the rain one day and some fucking guy dressed like a clown ended up killing him. Even tore his arm clean off. Pretty scary shit.

Welcome to the club.

I always think the creature from "don't be afraid of the dark" are coming, and try to stay in some amount of light as much as possible.

Guilty. But only when I'm sober. When I'm drunk or otherwise incapacitated it seems the monster won't attack.

If you run up fast enough his claws won't snag your leg.

You seen Child's Play 2? There's a scene for that!

I live in the middle of the woods and still do this when taking the trash out at night.

Why does this only apply to basements? Even fully finished basements. Dark hallway, living room, kitchen, etc... all fine. But godammit those basement stairs... the horror... the horror...

Someone, and something.

I STILL sometimes spook myself in the night when I go from the bathroom to my bedroom, which is like 2 steps across the hall. My hallway isn't even big or even that dark but I crrep myself out thinking something might be there.

I have the same thing, except with the Daily Star.

Edit: four FIVE months of gold?!? Thanks!

or, in my case, I'm afraid some shit's gonna jump out of the mirror.

Don't worry about that, it's the thing behind you that you can't see in the mirror that should bother you.

My brother-in-law said he once he went to the bathroom at night. When he was washing his after he finished his business, he looked up. It wasn't him in the mirror but this horrifying demon thing that mirrored his expression.

I don't know if telling the truth but at night he completely avoids mirrors.

I remember reading a story a long time ago (super short. Part of a website that I've long since forgotten the name of. I want to say it had the word "wolf" or "hounds" in it) about tricking your reflection by pretending to pull a hair from your head, but not actually do it, however when you look at your reflection it will have a hair between its fingers, and that you can never look in that mirror again.

Had trouble looking in one ever since I read that.

Well look at it this way. If there actually is someone standing behind you, mirrors will give you a chance to save yourself. Don't fear mirrors, they are your bros.

I have the same thing, and if you do, I advise if you ever decide to trip on mushrooms, dont look in the mirror at your own face. I went against my friends advice when I tried it a couple years back. Never again.

I am standing behind you. Turn around Tets1.

Turn.

Around.

Or the other you in the mirror might try to pull your jaw apart.

Mirrors have always, always freaked me out. I can't trace it to one story, but I'm sure I've heard the same ones as you. Luckily my boyfriend has no more love of them than I do- I can't imagine living in an apartment where there was just a mirror on the wall for decoration.

that would be pretty cool maybe they could teach you how to teleport

My butthole clenches every time I close my medicine cabinet. Horror films have ruined me.

My boyfriend had a figure standing behind him in a mirror once before (he has the terrifying habit of not turning in lights at night) and now i refuse to use the bathroom at his house... I will literally take a piss out his window.

I'm afraid I'll be looking in a mirror one day, and my reflection won't mimic me perfectly. I'll notice, but dumb me will just stand there like, "Did that really just happen?" Then my reflection, while I'm looking him right in the eye, will do this creepy smirk or something.

I'm in my thirties and still haven't gotten over that. Either that or I'm going to see my reflection do something I didn't do.

I mean, I don't avoid looking at the mirror, but there's always that thought.

When I was nine, the bathroom mirror scene in Poltergeist traumatized me. When I was 12, the "Mirror Mirror" episode of Amazing Stories did the same. Even today, roughly 30 years later, mirrors creep me out largely due to these two bits of childhood trauma.

I'm more worried that someone else will be looking back at me. Mirrors freak me out.

I'm terrified that I'll look in the mirror one day and not recognize who's looking back.

Sorry, I'll quit doing that...

When I have to go to the bathroom at night, I avoid looking at the mirror at all, because for some reason I'm only scared of this happening at night. Added to that, I am BLIND without my glasses, so I just keep my damn head DOWN.

I hear if you say "Biggie Smalls" into a mirror three times he'll come out and shoot you in the face.

well thanks for that, now I have another reason to dislike mirrors. I don't like looking into a mirror when it's dark outside, just creeps me out.

That wigs me out, too. I also get spooked at shower curtains that are closed all the way. Preferably they are pulled open all the way, but, if not, then they should be pulled back a bit so you can see in to make sure they're empty.

Or that you'll see your reflection blink.

My gf told me that one time she was at my place alone on the computer. When she turned off the machine and monitor she could se the reflection of a person standing behind her. When she turn around there was nothing and the reflection was gone. Strange things happened in that place. Edit : typo

Same in the bathroom, except also fear that behind the curtain is someone.

Would you rather have someone standing behind you without being able to see him?

My favorite SNL skit on the subject

Or out of a window at night.

Whenever I wash my face in the sink at night, I'm afraid it won't be my reflection that's looking back at me when I look up. Scary shit.

YES. Or if you have a window cabinet in your bathroom like I do. I feel the same anxiety whenever I have to close it. Thanks horror movies.

I feel that way when I'm in the bathroom brushing my teeth and washing my face in front of the mirror. I fear that in the moment I have my eyes closed, washing my face, something will be there as soon as they open again.

Yeah. You don't need to watch Twin Peaks then.

I woke up to hear knocking on glass. At first, I thought it was the window until I heard it come from the mirror again.

Mirrors don't bother me at all until...at night before bed when I'm brushing my teeth, and I bend down to spit in the sink I always feel like someone will be behind me when I look up.

Or Bloody Mary! I hate my childhood "friends" for telling me that one.

Even scarier if someone else looks back

I get anxious before I look in the mirror because I'm afraid my face will look dark and sinister and I won't recognize myself.

I used to have recurring dreams where I would look in the mirror to see a demonic version of myself smiling back.

To this day, I refuse to keep a mirror in my room.

I'm gonna go with it's bad that I'm sitting on the toilet reading this. The mirror is still waiting for me.

Brushing my teeth before going to bed. Girlfriend already asleep. Apart from the fan humming in the bedroom and the lights in the bathroom, the apartment is pitch black and dead silent. Looking at myself in the mirror, and brushing, brushing, brushing, spit, bend down to the sink to rinse my mouth, stand up and... yes, it's just me. I live another night. Unless something is lurking between the bathroom and the bed.

I'm tall and there's only one sink in this public restroom... and why are you washing your hair here anyway?

Seriously though, as a tall guy I try to make a habit of letting people know I'm next to them in a line or anywhere that makes people stand near each other so I don't surprise them.

I have a friend who refuses to walk past mirrors with his eyes open in the dark because he's convinced he'll see a demon or a ghost

God, that feeling... right before you look in the mirror, you have that split second of "hmm, is this gonna be the time that someone's behind me? am I ready for the moment that happens? the moment that might just be right now?" and then your heart stops just long enough for you to see that you're the only one looking back. you're safe.

for now.

Mirrors at night are even more frightening.

I'm afraid my reflection is going to do something that I don't.

One of the reasons I don't have a bathroom cabinet with a mirror ;) They always seem to close those cabinet doors and...

clever

The worst is when you wash your face in the sink and don't want to open your eyes for fear of someone being in the bathroom mirror.

I am the same but instead of someone behind me I am scared my reflection will grab me...

You know how telemarketers can use fake display numbers? Well, about a week ago, one called using our home phone number as the display. But we have a second line upstairs. And everyone was downstairs. I almost started crying.

"And he did a traceroute on the connection... and the TCP/IP address was 192.168.0.45!"

Okay, so it loses a bit of its scariness when translated to technology that isn't based on land lines.

"Hello? 911? The Scranton Strangler is inside the house. I repeat, inside the house."

My favourite version of this is "the streetpass.. is coming from INSIDE the house"

Link? Or summery plz

I live in a 200 sq foot apartment. I wouldn't even get mad, just amazed.

I've been visiting my parents recently and the first time I stayed there alone (new house in the middle of nowhere, naturally) the phone rang and showed its own name and number. When I answered, there was just silence. No one seemed to believe me and it really freaked me out. It happened once more since with other people home to verify but it was one of those scam credit card things. It still freaks me out though.

"Oh... no... wait... I followed the wrong end of the line, my bad, carry on.."

I've done this prank to my friend before with the iSpoof app the you used to be able to put on your iPhone. You can make it look like your calling from any number, including 911.

edit: still can do it. it's now called the spoof card app. costs a little bit of money to make the phone calls, but it's well worth it if you need it in a jam, or if you're just looking to have some fun pranking your friends.

What movie is that from?

Are they calling on the dedicated internet phone line or something?

Hello, This is Dog.

Or at least, from the same cell. Could be just outside the house, the signal strength location data isn't that accurate.

That's why I live in an apartment.

This is by far my favorite urban legend. Too bad they made it into a shitty movie...

With my dog the poor bastard would never make it inside. I hate cleaning up the mess...

Somewhat relevant XKCD thingy

Kind of similar, this is true and not creepy pasta kind of thing. My mother's good friend died last year; she had no other friends or family. My mom has a crappy phone still, one of those flip phones (she hates smartphones). Anyway, every so often my mom will get a text from her number that is a bunch of random letter, followed by a text that is basically a forward of a text she received from this person when she was alive. I don't know much about phones but I presume it is just some weird thing happening because she has a crappy phone, but no one at Verizon can seem to figure it out. She just got use to getting these texts but she still gets sad sometimes when they come.

But who was phone?

then who was phone?

But who was phone?

I went to a con last year and got some lipstick from Portland Black Lipstick company, except I got a pink color. It's called "The Coral is Coming From Inside the House" and I JUST fucking got it like a week ago.

Doobie doobie do...

http://youtu.be/EVWtq-_VYk8

The IMs are coming from your local network!!!

THEN WHO WAS PHONE

"The call is coming from inside the house"

Then get out of the house.

Surprisingly that dates back to the 60's. I always thought it was the movie Black Christmas (1974) which gave rise to the horror genre.

That shouldn't terrify anyone. First of all, now you know exactly where the evil doer is! He's on your turf and you know your house a whole lot better than he does. Just strap on your Glock and go get his worthless ass. You need to confront evil doers, not run from them. A woman with a gun and one who knows how to use it is more than a match for any evil guy out there.

"Hello, this is you from the future. Place $10m on USA this football worldcup. You will be set for life" hangup tone

Rick and Morty?

I saw 'Navajo Cops' the other day and they were trying to arrest this young, gangster type guy on the res, and he was explaining why he had knives: 'YO, SKINWALKERS BE TRYNA COME ALL UP IN HERE AND SHIT.'

Skinwalkers and wendigos are just pure horror. Native American myths are no fucking joke.

You gotta admit though, the nights are beautiful in the reservation. Just clear skies and all the stars. But other than that, it was scary as shit walking at night.

I was looking for skinwalkers before posting!

Creepy story: A few weeks back I was reading the stories that some redditors had told about experiences with skinwalkers. The one that bothered me the most was about how a boy was riding in a truck with his uncle and he suddenly heard a knock on the window. His uncle told him not to look out the window. So the kid just kept staring at his uncle and then at the floor.

Later that night I was visiting with a friend and we started exchanging ghost stories. I remembered the creepy truck tale and read it and several others from the thread to her. After finishing my stories, around 2 in the morning I went home. She was a little freaked out from all the stories, so she decided to sleep in the living room instead of her bedroom (she was alone for the night because her boyfriend works a night shift now and then.) Thirty minutes later, she was nodding off on the couch when a knock at the window startled her. She crept up to their door and looked out the peephole and there was a strange man standing out there. She saw him try to peer in the window and then knock at the door softly. Then he tried the doorknob. My friend called her boyfriend and he called their roommate, who was visiting their neighbor next door to run over to the house immediately. By the time the roommate got there the guy was gone. My friend said the stories may have saved her from something bad, as she wouldn't have been able to hear him messing with the window and door from back in their bedroom.

Edit: Fixed some terrible grammar, missing commas, and clarity. Also changed grandfather to uncle, as I was incorrect about the original Reddit post.

I just moved away from skin walker country. That is one urban legend I'm glad to have left behind. I know it isn't contained to one area, but being surrounded by mesas and desert out in the middle of nowhere sure adds to the freaky nature of those stories.

Skin-walkers show up in The Dresden Files, and they're some of the most powerful baddies in that series.

That's creepy! Do you live in New Mexico? My friend told me a story about how he helped his friend move some stuff out of an RV (who his friend's dad just killed himself in). He told me there was a house right outside of it and he stayed there for 3 days as well. On the second day, he went outside and looked at the snow only to find what looked like wolf tracks slowly transform into human footprints. Swears on his life it's true. Always kinda spooked me

/r/skinwalkers is awesome for these types of stories.

Methinks yee naaldlooshii makes it sound less scary.

Calling it this from now on.

Quick someone call Sam and Dean!

Oh man, this reminded me of an old Askreddit post about scary shit people have seen. This one guy talked about how he saw what appeared to be a coyote walking on its hind legs while he was camping. However, it didn't move kinda awkwardly like you would think a canine on its hind legs would move; it walked like a person. In the comments below it, several people starting freaking out because they had all seen the exact same thing, and someone brought up the legends of the skinwalkers. To this day, that was the spookiest thing I've seen on Reddit.

This is kinda similar to the goatman myth that was posted further up.

Nothing scares me as badly as Skin Walkers.

I've seen that x-files episode.

See I didn't hear about this till about a month ago when we spend a night in a mud hut at Monument Valley. Fair to say that nobody went to the outdoor toilet that night.

What a great way to make sure kids behave. "You know what happens to boys who don't eat their vegetables? They get supernatural powers and spend their time terrorising the rest of us"

There was this kid at this forestry camp I went to who was a Native American. He saw me brushing my hair outside and he got really serious and told me never to do that because there was a type of people that would take hair that fell, wrap it around a certain stone and spin it until I died. He said how it had happened to a couple of his friends. The scariest stories are the ones people believe in when they're telling you. Do you have any idea about what this kind of thing was? I'd like to read up on it.

skinwalker

Texas Skinranger...

Thanks MST3k.

The word "skinwalker" is fucking terrifying.

fuck

They're similar to Goatmen stories. They hang around camp sites and mimic voices they hear to lure people away and try to leave the forests as them.

This still scares the shit out of me. I used to live in Southern Utah. There was a local urban legend about the Native Americans that supposedly lived near a place called Snow Canyon State Park. It was said that they were all skinwalkers and would come out at night. My friends and I would go cave exploring at night. We'd be walking down the desert trails and hear noises in the bushes and then hear coyote calls and it would really freak us out.

One time we saw what looked like a group of three men standing in the distance a ways from us. We stopped and got real close to each other and started walking slowly forward, towards the cave. When we looked back, the 'three men' were gone, nowhere to be seen. About five minutes passed and we heard a coyote call and then three sets of animal eyes appeared on the in front of us. One of the animals called out, a wild screeching noise, and then the three animals ran off.

We got the hell out of there.

Along those lines; my Cherokee grandparents would tell me about the Raven Mocker... I'm not generally afraid of folklore or legends, but a few times I've been out in the middle of nowhere, heard a very loud raven caw, and caught myself jumping.

We just bought a new house out in the country. There are coyotes in the area, so the first night we were there we head they yelping away. The next morning there came a "tap-tap-tap" at the window.

My fiance flipped out, terrified because of these stories. Turns out the window the tapping came from is somewhat mirrored, and there was a small bird trying to fight it's mirror image, but still creepy when it happened.

I tell this story every time skinwalkers come up. This happened to my stepdad's friend, back in the early '70s. His friend came over, one day they were off work, and they sat around chugging beer and watching TV and stuff. A little later, his friend popped some pills he had scored(don't know what they were, I was just told "pills" when this story was told to me, most likely Quaaludes, though). Anyway, his friend decides he better get home before the pills kick in. My stepdad tried to get him to stay, but his friend said he'd be OK, he only lived a couple of miles away.

He hopped in his car and started racing home. He was flying down the road, when he heard a knocking on his back windows. The knocking started coming up towards the front of the car and it was getting louder and more insistent. He knew no one could be out there because of how fast he was going. Finally, the knocking was RIGHT ON HIS DRIVER'S SIDE WINDOW!

He glanced over and that's when he saw him....

It was a cop. He was jogging along beside the car, banging on the window trying to get him to pull over. Apparently, the pills kicked in before he got in the car. He wasn't flying down the road like he thought, he was just barely creeping along. Anyways, he got to spend a couple of nights in jail.

I went to lake tahoe last summer and rented a houseboat for about a week... One of the refueling stations we stopped by we asked one of the guys which is the best place to camp at for the night. Told me couple good places but warned me not to go to sheep creep canyon. Supposedly that canyon was in Navajo territory and skin walkers roam those areas. It sounded adventurous and fun and we thought he was joking anyways so we told him we were going to sheep creep canyon. We ended up not going because of how serious and adamant the guy was, warning us not to go there.

So what do we do?? The next best thing, instead of camping at sheep creep canyon we decide to camp in the canyon right next to it... Later that night, looking towards sheep creep canyon we can see towards the top 2 distinct bonfires.. I don't know what that was all about but it definitely wasn't tourists walking around have a grand time... I figured it was some Navajo people doing some sort of rituals. Lasted through the whole night and still could see smoke from the bonfires during the next day.

I'm still planning to go back and camp at sheep creep canyon...

This probably would get to me more if fucking Twilight hadn't taken the idea and done terrible things to it in a back alleyway.

My great grandmother was Cherokee and told of a similar story, but she called it the Windego. They gain their power by eating parts of other people. As they gain more and more power, they get corrupted into a beast like man that just craves more human flesh until our goes full super wolf basically.

Looks like we need some Sam & Dean in there.

Ahhhhhhh there's a Nosleep podcast story about this and I teared up really badly.

From what I've read, killing a relative is part of the initiation. Some skin-walkers wear the skins of the animal but others do not - how then are they supposed to transform?

I think you have to fight some of those off in Beyond Two Souls. Pretty good game. The Navajo section was definitely memorable.

This has given me some bad vibes. A few weeks ago I went to my beach for an acid trip and just before it kicked in there was a black shadow just looking out to the sea below. The area used to be an industrial site, too, and the demolished area looks like something out of Fallout. I walked along the beach the whole night unable to put in my earphones out of fear. What the fuck is with those people that trip in woods? That must suck.

/r/skinwalkers

I just found out about that subreddit 3 days ago and binged read on it. Super creepy encounters that are true (well supposedly).

Man, if all it took was violating cultural taboos to gain awesome super-powers I'd be violating them left and right!

can someone explain why these stories people are telling they say, "Don't Look." Is it a if I don't see it it can't see me?

Every year the seniors in my High School take a trip to the Navajo reservation and do community service (if they choose to go, you don't have to). Good thing I didn't know about this then...

Yeah I don't fuck with skinwalkers. I have to take my medication whenever I'm visiting my mom's reservation. I'll be scared shitless if I don't.

"What'd you have to do to kill it?"

"It chased me all the way to a nuclear test range. I got back inside the Nevernever just in time."

When I was in the Marine Corps, there was this guy from Oklahoma who told us stories of Ishkitini, or Owl-formed shapeshifters.

Wasn't there an article where they showed that the legend of the gigantic shape-shifters started in earlier times when the Natives saw tornados/twisters that resembled human form? Or maybe it was in Reddit that I saw it a few years ago. Can't really remember. I tried Google and can't seem to find a shred of evidence. Someone please help me out here cos I'm freaking out! Did I just dream this up? I swear I didn't....!!!! I hate this thread!!!!!!!!!

Here you go

After reading the Goatman story, this just made me shit a whole house.

You should watch Deer Woman.

I think there was a story on r/nosleep about these

I'm from New Mexico near a Navajo reservation. Some of these fucking stories scare the shit out of me

Does "yee naaldlooshii" have anything to do with needles. Because without the yee and the -hii, it says no needles in dutch.

Driving up to Farmington there's word that there's one around there.

Drove up there and it became dark, mess was a scary drive.

Paul, you is a wahrwilf?

Driving up to Farmington there's word that there's one around there.

Drove up there and it became dark, mess was a scary drive.

What's your thoughts on the name Redskins? Should the team in Washington change their name?

don't read the dresden files then......

Reminds me of the "skin-man" shapeshifter from "The wind through the keyhole" by Stephen king.

Maybe I'm missing what's so scary about this one...

They're just regular shapeshifter mythology. That's like saying "Ooh, spooky, werewolves!" but in reality no one is really very scared of the werewolf myth anymore.

Do they do something particularly disturbing or dangerous or are they just dudes who can shapeshift? Reading up on them, the latter seems to be the case.

There is an awesome/terrible/wonderful/hilarious x-files episode on this subject.

We're just misunderstood, man.

also, I like the way you've decorated your bedroom.

In Mexico, it's called Nahual.

They also resemble werewolves

Jacob?

Also, This thread and story...

Why aren't you supposed to look at them?

The Algonquin Wendigo always got me.

They're pure evil and spread their hate.

I appreciate this explanation because as a child most of the monsters in stories lacked motivation. I would always wonder why the monsters wanted to hurt and maim and seldom were my questions answered. Your explanation is strangely satisfying.

Do you know of any documentaries about this? I prefer one that keeps the mystery alive, but also offers an excellent real-world explanation for these Skinwalkers.

Whenever I hear about skinwalkers I always think of this. Thank you MST3K.

I was going to say skin walkers. they're really creepy.

We are not skinwalkers, you got this whole thing wrong. Sometimes humanity just amazes me. We are your friendly neighborhood watch-outs. We sometimes find people driving around in the dark, or strolling about by themselves and we see it as out duty to get them home. Most of the time they mistake us for demons and attack us and then we have to attack back in self-defence. I wish less humans did that, we mean you no harm. We are just normal folks of the earth.

I learned about these on supernatural

Sounds kind of like a Wendigo. Algonquian tribes believed that if anyone were to eat human flesh, they would turn into a kind of demonic half-beast creature whose appearance varied from having human characteristics to being a terrifying monster with no resemblance to humans. Those stories always freaked me out

I live in a small town that's pretty much surrounded by pueblos. There's 7 of them around me. Skin walkers are probably one of the things I'm most scared of. I have some friends that have told some skin walker stories that scare the shit out of me

Yeah man I dont believe in that shit, but when you're on a rez and you've got a bunch of people worked up about a skinwalker. It can be fucking creepy.

Growing up I heard about the skin walkers, but they were usually in dear or elk form and their legs were like, reversed, so the knees looked hyper extended TO THE FULLEST when they ran and chased after you. Also, if you looked at them and looked into your eyes, that's how they stole your skin....

There are people who break a cultural taboo to gain supernatural powers.

Interesting. I would have buttsex and scream racial slurs for days if it meant I could be bullet proof and fly.

People are weird.

And now you are fucked because you talked about them to outsiders on the intraweb, good luck with all that.

Yanaglanchi, baby.

Shapeshifting, mind reading and changing my voice? Sign me up, hell.

I read some green text story about skin walkers. It was the "goatman" or something. Even if I found it, I can't link since I'm on mobile. I recommend reading it, it's pretty good.

There's a really good X-Files episode based on this.

huh...I remember back in elementary school I had a couple Navajo friends who told me about skinwalkers they had encountered while visiting their dad on a reservation in AZ and thought they were just making shit up on the spot to try to scare me. kinda crazy how stories like that manage to spread across the world before the days of the internet...makes you wonder eh?

Read about them in one of the Dresden books. So badass.

I've heard about this before... Are they ever mentioned in The Dresden Files?

Is the taboo cannibalism? Sounds similar to sasquatch/yeti/wendigo lore

/r/skinwalkers for the interested

U need injun joe.

My grandmother told me how her father shot a wolf in the shoulder and searched for it to finish the job. Later they meet natives in their village, and a woman who was shot in the shoulder.

wasn't there a Ben 10 episode about this?

I've heard from somewhere (can't remember where now) that the Native American tradition of showing your hands palm outwards was because of this, or fear of different 'star people' the reason being was that these star people had 6 fingers on their hand and they would do the 'how' and show hands to confirm they weren't the 'star people'

I have a question for you. I have heard the term "Wendigo" as a native american boogeyman, but google searches seem to turn up many very different versions. I was wondering if there was a central ideology behind it, or if every tribe or collection have their own version?

Have you read Turn Coat by Jim Butcher? The main antagonist is a naagloshii, and the author does his research on each mythos he draws from.

People who are able to pretend they are anyone and spread hate? Sounds like the internet.

I just recently started reading about skinwalkers and now when I get home at midnight after work, I sprint from my car to the house and have to think happy thoughts until I can lock my door behind me. :( So scary.

You sure it's just the house..?

What does make houses creak? Is it just the pipes expanding or something?

The lost souls like scary stories. It makes them feel alive.

Home alone. What was that? Was that from upstairs? What the fuck am I doing in this thread.

My stomach made a noise as I was reading goat man and all of my hairs stood up holy shit.

sorry. was just getting some milk

Your house really is creaky...I like your sheets.

I just don't get any work done. Here it is 90 minutes into the day and I've only got 7 lines of editing done!

It's worse if you're home alone.

It was so sunny outside, with a warm breeze. As soon as I started reading this thread, it became cloudy all of a sudden and the breeze turned cold.

Sorry, didn't mean to creep you out. I'll be more quiet. You can still make noise though, so I know when you're coming, and I can time it just right.

My cats are crashing into fucking everything, and fighying\hissing.

This is why I'm glad I have cats- I can attribute almost any unknown noise to them being stupid.

If you have animals... Blame it on them.

Don't read /r/nosleep then.

I swear everytime I read these type of threads my house is getting shelled more than usual

They're coming to get us. That's why.

It's just creaking as much as it normally does - when you're not around.

I have trouble laying on my bed, back facing the door now

Your house is getting nervous that you're on to it.

My bad.

I'm at my parents' right now, creaky farmhouse in the middle of the woods and there's a thunderstorm. This is going to be one good thread

My lights just started to flicker. I'll be far away from here now.

Ha! At least I'll be at work. In the dark ER. Until just past midnight when I have to drive an hour on poorly lit roads to get home.

What the actual fuck, this just happened to me like 10 times while reading this.

Everytime I see these threads whilst lying in bed, I tell myself not to read it. Next thing I know it's 3am and I'm lying in my bed thinking that every creak or noise is a ghost/intruder/walker/murderer.

Thanks guys. :D

In all of the time that I've lived alone in this house, I swear to God I've closed more doors than I've opened.

Sorry about that I'll try to tiptoe next time

Do you feel the air pressing against you more as well?

My houses foundation shifts a lot so I understand how you feel.

This actually is true.. It because you are real releasing fearamones into the air and wood is reactive them. It's the same thing beavers use to soften wood.

don't worry, thats just the house BREATHING

What of I told you there is no house.

It's your senses being heightened as your brain processes these scary thoughts and going into fight or flight mode. Or OP you should burn your house down.

Have you tried burning it

Nah dude my brother is playing drums right now. There are no spooky silences in this household.

I'll try to be quieter

I always have to pee right away. Not getting out from under the covers.

I have about the same amount of sense to read this at 1 am

My air conditioning just turned on right as I read this.

There is a rather violent thunderstorm going on where I am so this might not be the appropriate thread for the moment

This was on the joke thread the other day:

A babysitter called up the kids' father while watching TV in the living room.

"Could I put a blanket over the clown statue in the corner of the room? It's creeping me out."

"Call the police, we don't have a clown statue."

When the police arrived, they found that the clown actually was a statue and the father had Alzheimer's.

Here you go,

Man and wife work in glorious Soviet tractor factory. One day, they get tired from building communism, so go into city to stand in bread line. They hire babysitter to watch over children for night. Babysitter left with children in proud Soviet home. Tells parents will take good care.

Father get call from babysitter after a few hours. Babysitter tell father that children reading Marx like good Soviets, but room is drafty because there are no windows. Asks father if okay to move children to parents' room to read Marx. Father says okay, but babysitter have one final request. She ask if can cover up Lenin statue in room because it is frightening her. Father drop phone (should have worn gloves), then tell babysitter, "Take children and get out of house. We do not have Lenin statue!"

Mother and father race home to find KGB at house. KGB arrest babysitter for finding Lenin statue frightening, then arrest parents for not having Lenin statue. Such is life in Moscow.

Edit: Found from this subreddit, http://www.reddit.com/r/suchislifeinmoscow/