Although I try not to dwell on it, we really do live in a world that is full of danger.

You never know who or what’s around the next corner and you gotta keep your eyes and your ears peeled when you’re out and about: especially when you’re out walking after the sun goes down.

Folks on AskReddit talked about the scariest things they’ve seen while walking at night.

Prepare to get creeped out…

1. Weird.

“There was one night where a car stopped up the road, a girl got out, yelled for help, then got back in and they drove off.

I have no idea of it was serious or not, considering she got right back in the car…”

2. Jeez…

“During winter in a rural no cell service kind of area. Completely dark, no street lights nor anyone in sight. Temperatures were around 20 and it was snowing.

I was walking my dog with a flashlight. Then I heard someone start screaming bloody murder. Flight or fight kicked in; it truly sounded like someone was being stabbed to death for what seemed like forever.

I chose to find out what the hell was going on.

What I found instead was beyond anything I expected. He was a 5 year old boy wandering down the road all alone. All he was wearing were light flannel pants and a thin t-shirt. No shoes or hat. And screaming so loudly it echoed through the hills.

I dropped my dogs leash and walked up to him slowly; gently and repeatedly telling him that I’m a mom and that he’s going to be ok.

I wrapped him into my arms and carried him to a neighbors home to warm him by the fire and call for help.”

3. Close call.

“I almost got kidnapped near a train station. Some dude drove up to me hella quick and insisted that I was some “missing Canadian child” and that he’d “take me home”.

Coincidentally, a motorcycle cop happened to drive by, and immediately pulled over after I waved him down. He approached the guy in the car very aggressively and told him off.

The cop didn’t arrest the guy or anything (the guy apparently told the cop the same “I thought he was a missing child” story), but he did walk me over to the train station and stayed with me until the train actually arrived.”

4. Intuition.

“One time I turned around to see what was behind me just out of intuition, and I saw someone step behind a tree rather quickly and try to hide from me.

I stood there for a second to confirm this, then I speed-walked home.

F**king creepy.”

5. Creeped out.

“Walking home from a late night gym session.

A white van drove past by me and slowly took a right turn in front of me. A couple minutes later I reach the turn and see the van stopped at the exit of a parking lot. It’s facing  back my way. It’s about 4 am and nothing else is going on and I’m creeped out.

The van starts coasting forward slowly after I make the turn and I sprint across the street to a gas station and into this small d**d end water/air pump station and press my body against an area of the wall that the van can’t quite see me.

It literally pulls into the air/water station and stops. I hear the engine running right f**king next to me but they never get out of the van. I just stand there pressed against the wall until they pull out and drive around the gas station into the lot on the opposite side of the wall. I hear the van lingering for some time before it goes silent.

Still I wait a while longer before I leave and run the rest of the way home.”

6. A good scare.

“I’m an overnight security guard. One night I was watching cameras and saw someone underneath a grass tarp where some landscaping was taking place on our property.

I was guessing this person had probably tried to stash something before they went into detox which is next door to our property.

I get over to the tarp and don’t see the guy anywhere. So I start walking over the tarp and lifting it to look for any stashed items.

Well I ended up stepping on the poor homeless guy, scared the s**t out of me. He was cool though and we fist bumped and he went on his way.”

7. Strange…

“I worked night shift for 7 years.

One night a young, thin blonde woman was walking down the street at 2 am with no pants or underwear on and a button up shirt open. I tried to ask if she needed help and she just stared forward, slowly walking staring forward.

I called the police and they came and stood in front of her and she slowly walked into the cops hand and stopped. I didn’t stay and went back to work. I still think a out her and what the f**k was going on. I tell myself it was sleep walking on Ambien or something, and that she wasn’t just assaulted and in complete shock. I’ll never know.

But she was very pretty, and seemed well groomed. Was very strange.”

8. The truck.

“One time I was walking around my relatively safe neighborhood with two of my friends after midnight (we were probably 16 at the time). This loud red truck speeds by us, which is normal for the road we were on.

Then a few minutes later the same red truck drives by the opposite way going much slower. Again just a couple of minutes later he drives by but this time stops a hundred or so feet away from us and just sits there.

Realizing that this is not normal we booked it through the yard to the next street over. For the next 20 or so minutes we see this truck creeping up and down the neighborhood while we hid behind some bushes and when we finally thought he was gone, we booked it to my house.

He turned the corner onto my road just as we were about to open my front door.”

9. OMG.

“D**d body on the side of the street with a sign around its neck saying “I’m a cell phone thief, don’t be like me.”

This was maybe 20 years ago in Manila, Philippines.”

10. That’s odd…

“Grew up in Japan, not too small / not too big city.

Worked a job that had me coming home daily at 2 – 4ish AM daily. I preferred to walk the backstreet that paralleled the main street home because it felt more cozy and peaceful. Nothing of note happened until one day…

I turn the corner onto the side street and about halfway down there was a young woman. She wasn’t doing anything, just staring at the sky. Staring straight up, STRAIGHT up, neck at a 90 degree angle, mouth slightly agape, long black hair hanging. I hesitated but decided that, since nothing weird has ever happened here before, it’d be fine, so I went to walk by.

I get up next to her, it’s a narrow road so not a lot of room to maneuver, and pause to look at her. She hasn’t moved or reacted to me, she’s just staring away. So I fight my instincts and ask her if she’s okay. She doesn’t react. I look up to see if she’s looking at something but there’s nothing there. So now I’m thinking there’s something medical going on, so I reach out and touch her on the shoulder.

She jolts and and looks at me like she’s just noticed me. I ask if she’s okay and she just stammers and says sorry before hustling down the street the same way I was headed. I decided to smoke a c**arette to let some distance get between me and her, but towards the end of the street, she stops and stares at the sky again. Doesn’t move for the whole five minutes it takes for me to finish my cig.

I walked down the main street for the next couple nights.”

11. What’s that sound?

“I worked night shift on Kadena AB on Okinawa, Japan.

I started walking to work because I didnt have a car. I really enjoyed the walks. It was a good way to wind down after work as the nights were cool and quiet and I could listen to my music without worrying about anyone else around.

One night while walking home I heard some rustling in the jungle of trees on the way home. Next thing I know all of the lights went black and all I heard/felt was a loud wooooosh coming right at my head. I screamed like a little girl, ran, and dropped my ipod (it broke).

Once I made it past the trees I realized it was one of the giant bats that lived on Okinawa. It scared the ever living s**t out of me.”

Have you ever had anything scary happen when you’ve been walking at night?

If so, please share your stories with us in the comments.

We’d love to hear from you!