3 Disturbing TRUE Lake House Horror Stories
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#Horror #Story #Stories #Scary #Ghost # Haunted #Fright #Nightmare #Real #True #Paranormal
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00:00this happened a few winters ago i had just finalized my divorce about six months earlier
00:15and to put it lightly i needed a reset christina my girlfriend at the time suggested we take a
00:22trip somewhere quiet something different from the chaos i'd been dealing with we found a rental on
00:28a lake in upstate new york and i booked it for a week without much thought the place was exactly
00:33what i was looking for a modern but cozy house positioned right on the lake surrounded by woods
00:39with only a handful of other properties scattered along the shoreline most of them were empty it
00:45wasn't exactly peak season for lakefront living i welcomed that though i really just wanted to be
00:50as far from civilization as possible the host wasn't going to be there but he gave us some
00:56detailed instructions on where to find the keys some stuff about the house you know all the
01:01standard airbnb stuff we arrived in the morning and when we got there there was a small package
01:07sitting on the front steps waiting for us there was no return address just a little handwritten
01:13note that said enjoy your stay make sure to stay warm that part was kind of cute but there was
01:19something else in the package a tiny box of matches we figured it was some kind of welcome gift a weird
01:27one but harmless enough christina laughed and made a joke about how the upstate people have always been
01:32a little odd and that was that the next two days were exactly what we wanted long hikes through the snow
01:39hot drinks by the fireplace total peace and quiet oh yeah i should probably mention that the snow had been
01:45steadily falling since we arrived not quite a blizzard because there wasn't that much wind or fog
01:51but there was enough snow to make the landscape feel untouched it was perfect i think it's a good
01:58time to describe the layout of the house at least somewhat the master bedroom where we slept was on the
02:04second floor it had these massive windows across from the bed that overlooked the lake the roof or at
02:10least the windows must have been pretty thin because we could hear the patter of snowflakes from inside
02:15which was a really nice touch there was also a skylight in there so we could fall asleep to the beautiful sky and
02:21snow sometime after midnight on the third night i woke up to a sound it was barely audible over the sound of
02:29the wind and the snow the first thing i noticed was actually the storm the snowfall had gotten considerably
02:36heavier since i had fallen asleep and the outdoors was starting to resemble more of a blizzard i shifted my focus
02:43back to the sound and realized why it stuck out it sounded man-made almost mechanical unlike the
02:50natural sounds you'd expect to hear out in the wilderness i quietly got out of bed careful not to
02:56wake up christina and i made my way across the room i looked out the window and saw the last thing i
03:02expected to see a snowmobile it was moving slowly across the ice i know it's not the most abnormal thing
03:10people drive snowmobiles on frozen lakes all the time but i was just so confused given how late it
03:16was like i said the snow was falling more heavily now so visibility wasn't great but i could still
03:22make out the shape the driver was moving cautiously like they weren't completely sure about the ice
03:27and then they just stopped entirely i watched as the person climbed off and started waving their hands
03:34like they were in distress it looked like they were shouting but i couldn't make out what they were
03:39saying to my horror i realized that they were facing in the direction of our house did they know we were
03:46there it was impossible either way it looked like they needed help so i woke christina and told her what
03:53was happening then i got dressed went downstairs and stepped outside onto the deck it was freezing even
04:01with the layers i was wearing as soon as i opened the door i got hit with another surprise the person
04:08on the ice was a woman i could tell because she was shouting for help saying thank god someone's there
04:13and repeating that she lost her little boy somewhere in the snowstorm it sounded like she was crying or
04:19borderline hysterical it wasn't a question of whether or not i'd help if there was a child out there in
04:25that weather all alone they weren't gonna last long i laced my boots and made my way toward the lake
04:31telling christina to stay inside as i approached the woman i started to make out more details of her
04:37appearance she was bundled up in a thick fur coat and her hair was pulled back into a tight braid
04:43the ice was completely solid there wasn't even a chance of falling through so i started to relax
04:50knowing that it would have been impossible for that little boy to have fallen through
04:53as i got closer she started saying that he had run away from home and that she was looking for him
04:59that statement gave me some pause i had expected her to say something like he had fallen off her
05:04snowmobile and she hadn't noticed and then i started to think about how ridiculous even that story was
05:10how the hell do you not notice your own kid falling off a snowmobile the adrenaline must have been
05:16clouding my judgment because i hadn't even thought about that until right then i was just about to
05:21ask her for more details when she said something that literally made me freeze she asked me if i
05:27still got those matches and i could tell she was smiling for a split second i had no idea what she was
05:33talking about and then it all clicked at once the matches that package from the first day the note
05:40she had left it not our host before i could react she reached into her coat and pulled out a gun
05:47she demanded my wallet and phone and i gave them to her i had no other choice the whole interaction
05:54happened within the span of not even 30 seconds without another word she climbed back onto the
06:00snowmobile and disappeared into the whiteout as she was speeding away i turned towards the house and ran as
06:06fast as i could on the ice shouting for christina to call the police the whole time she was already on the
06:12phone with them when i finally made it back to the house i locked the doors and paced the room still
06:17shaking i kept looking outside half expecting to see that snowmobile circling back the cops showed up
06:25about an hour later by that point the fresh snowfall had already covered any tracks that woman had left
06:30behind christina was hysterical but i was mostly angry i had come here for peace there was hope
06:38though i couldn't think of a reliable way that that woman had gotten her snowmobile onto the lake
06:43so i expected the police to at least find the vehicle abandoned somewhere unfortunately i was wrong
06:49the police searched the area and found an old boat ramp on the far side of the lake their best guess was
06:55that she had come from there i was furious and insisted they keep looking but they told me the
07:01same thing i already knew there wasn't much they could do even if she left something behind they'd never
07:06find it in all the snow with christina's help i tried tracking my phone but by that point it was
07:13already offline the one good thing about the whole ordeal was that the airbnb host refunded the entire trip
07:19he sounded genuine on the phone and confirmed that he knew nothing about a welcome package
07:24but something about the whole thing didn't sit right with me how could that woman have possibly
07:29known we'd be staying there and why go to such elaborate lengths just for a simple robbery
07:34i couldn't help but think the host had something to do with it but i had no proof
07:38i brought it up with airbnb but they were about as helpful as you'd expect
07:43i know i've always been a paranoid guy but for the longest time after that i couldn't help but feel
07:48that my ex-wife had something to do with it it honestly makes me angry writing about this
07:53i can just imagine her stupid face laughing at my expense i've since come to terms with how
07:59unlikely that possibility is but the whole thing still doesn't make any sense even now i have no
08:05idea why someone would do all of that just for a wallet and phone unless they were seriously messed
08:10up in the head and got some kind of sick pleasure out of it
08:13my family owns a northern california lake house that we visit for a couple of short weeks out of
08:28the year during primetime summer weather it's two stories tall with an attic when my younger sister
08:34and i were little we used to climb into the attic and pretend we were camping with sleeping bags
08:39we would even bring our puppy up there there was one small window in the attic that we would peer
08:44through to look down at the lake we always got a kick from watching people in our early teenage years
08:51we got a bit too big for both of us to stay in the attic comfortably so that put an end to our sleeping
08:56bag antics looking back it was a little sad but everyone's got to grow up eventually when our
09:03grandparents died my parents inherited the remainder of their furniture we had some space to fit the bigger
09:09furniture pieces but the attic ended up getting stuffed with the smaller hand-me-down items
09:13my parents didn't really have the heart to get rid of any of it as it was all they had left of my
09:18nana and pop it felt bittersweet putting all of my grandparents stuff up there but it felt reassuring
09:24knowing that little pieces of their most cherished items were still watching over us in a way
09:28that whole period honestly felt like the ending of my childhood and i bet my sister would agree
09:34as we got older it got harder for my family to make it out there to the lake house due to my studies
09:40and my parents work at best we could all maybe get a singular week off for a family trip but nothing
09:46beyond that my parents didn't really want to rent it out during the many months we weren't there because
09:52they were scared of getting their antiques ripped off or broken by sketchy tenants so for most of the year
09:58it was more or less abandoned only really being kept up by the landscapers my parents had to deal
10:03with but a few years back they met a local elderly veteran now working as an antique craft restorationist
10:10and eventually signed a year-long lease with him trusting him not to rough up the place
10:15he was a small disfigured man with white hair and one of those gruff greasy beards
10:20we all thought he looked a bit bizarre with a gravelly off-putting voice to match but my dad bonded
10:27with the guy over his military background my dad told us reassuringly that none of us understood
10:33what it was like to lay your life down for your country and that guys like him were deserving of a
10:38good deal on a place to stay we didn't really have a say in what my dad decided to do but i can tell
10:43firsthand that this elderly man seriously creeps me out besides just that we were all a bit sour
10:50about my dad signing the lease with the guy because it also meant that we wouldn't be able to visit the
10:54lake house in the summer anyways my parents could use the extra cash while putting us through college
10:59so my sister and i got over it even though our parents trusted him to keep the place from burning
11:05down they would periodically check in on him through a little prodding from the landscaper workers
11:10plus my parents had to make sure he hadn't fallen or had any issues that had gone unnoticed
11:16these indirect check-ins seems like the perfect solution we stayed out of his nose but still got
11:22peace of mind you might call that a little invasive but this guy was getting a great deal on the place
11:28anyway i guess an elderly crusty guy in his twilight years couldn't really care less about occasional
11:34questions from laid-back landscapers now and then it wasn't like he was going to be able to physically
11:38keep the lake house in shape by himself anyway my dad reasoned that his rent at least covered the
11:44maintenance despite it looking like he'd been a decent tenant that all went out the window when
11:50the maintenance guys pointed out his predatory behavior to my mom over the phone they told my mom
11:55that while doing landscaping for the neighbor's yards they'd often spot him sitting weirdly on the
12:00porch staring at the children by the lake they said they had caught him doing other things too that
12:05i don't really feel comfortable repeating my mom was a real saint and absolutely loathed the idea
12:11of a disfigured old man eyeing children while being a tenant in her beloved lake house
12:15for months she talked my dad's ear off about it until he couldn't take it any longer
12:20i still remember my mom screaming at him about how irresponsible it was for us to be accommodating a
12:26potential predator my dad finally cracked when the end of the year-long lease was up my dad tried to
12:33let him down easy he had high respect for him as a veteran my dad lied and told him that they
12:38planned on having some work done to the house that would leave him without electricity or plumbing
12:43for a few months the guy left without too much of a fuss it wasn't like the money my parents had
12:48made off of him was great they assumed he'd be able to find another spot just fine my mom told my dad
12:55to stop worrying about him so much my mom wanted him out of there as quickly as possible so we even
13:01paid the landscaping guys a little extra to help him grab his belongings admittedly i was also kind of
13:07happy to see him gone it had always felt weird that someone so strange had basically unlimited access
13:12to our house anyway about a year after that my younger sister graduated college so my parents
13:19seized upon the opportunity clocked in their sick days and flew us out for a summer trip at the lake
13:24house my parents had recently gotten a black lab mix named bear who my sister hadn't met yet so she was
13:31especially thrilled i'll skip all the irrelevant stuff but by the time we actually made it to the
13:37house the sun had just started setting so we decided to leave bear inside while we grabbed dinner in town
13:43the house wasn't stocked with groceries or anything so we didn't really have another option
13:48before we left i noticed bear was acting strange his ears were perked up and he kept pacing like he was
13:55waiting for something i figured he was just restless from the long trip and brushed it off we weren't
14:02gone long just enough time to eat and let the heat die down but when we stepped back inside something
14:08felt off like seriously off before i could say anything i saw bear he was sprawled out at the foot of the
14:16stairs panting hard my sister screamed and i realized there was blood smearing the floor beneath him
14:23my mom immediately pulled out her phone presumably to call 911 without a word my dad made his way into
14:30the kitchen and grabbed a knife i followed suit and the two of us slowly made our way around the house
14:36searching for the intruder by the time we made it to the top floor my dad motioned for me to stop
14:41it took me a second but i ultimately realized what he was looking at the attic hatch was open
14:47it wasn't wide open just cracked but enough that we could see the faint glare of a flashlight shining
14:54down i'm not proud to admit it but i was petrified in fear in that moment if it weren't for my dad i
15:01don't know what would have happened without hesitation he yanked the hatch and started bounding up the ladder
15:07i didn't follow this time i was too scared i listened expecting to hear some kind of fight
15:13but no such sound came instead a few moments later my dad climbed back down the ladder seemingly calm
15:20he whispered to me that it was our old tenants and i could tell that he was really torn about what to do
15:25my mom eventually came running up the stairs and when she found out what was going on
15:30she started screaming at the top of her lungs my dad wanted to let the guy go but my mom wasn't having
15:36it she had called the police already anyway so that was that when the police arrived they went up to
15:42the attic and carried the guy down the ladder he looked like he was in really bad shape and i could
15:47tell my dad had nothing but sympathy the police found our house key on his person which also angered
15:53my mom because my dad had told her that he had changed the locks luckily bear survived although he was
15:59seriously injured as awful a thing as that man had done my dad refused to press charges no matter what my
16:05mom or sister said to convince him that was actually one of the biggest fights my parents ever had and i
16:11never understood why my dad had so much sympathy for someone who had literally stabbed his dog
16:15this all took place about a year ago and we haven't been back to the lake house since
16:20i really hate to say it but this experience seriously tainted my childhood image of that house
16:25i can't say i want to go back anytime soon
16:28this happened last summer i was 20 years old my name is kevin my friend james comes from a very
16:46wealthy family his dad is like an ip lawyer who contracts with the u.s government or something
16:51they've got a bunch of properties all over the country and a handful of international ones too
16:56that's the kind of wealth i'm talking about one of their houses is on a relatively large but overall
17:02pretty secluded lake the lake itself isn't so big that you can't see the houses on the other side of
17:07it but it would be a workout and a half swimming across the whole thing james's parents were never
17:13around so he pretty much had unlimited access to that house and he often invited friends over with
17:18permission of course there's something about being out on the lake that makes you feel invincible
17:23it's a different feeling than the beach for sure i'm not really sure how to explain it but there's
17:28more of an exclusive vibe to it hopefully i can be successful enough to afford one one day
17:33like i said the lake itself is pretty secluded big fancy houses line the perimeter but most of them
17:40would usually sit dark and empty a lot of them were vacation homes for people who barely even used them
17:45it's honestly kind of a shame thinking about it there are upsides to that though james would throw
17:52the craziest parties there because there were usually no neighbors to call the police this night was
17:57different though it was just the two of us having a more chill night i won't get into it but i had just
18:03broken up with my girlfriend of three years and i was in dire need of some bro time we were having a
18:09few beers out on the dock when i noticed a light flicking across the lake i can't remember exactly what
18:15time it was at first i thought it was just the sun perfectly reflecting off something into my eye
18:20but even when i moved my head to the side i could still see it it was flashing like someone was turning
18:27a light on and off repeatedly i told james and the two of us became fixed on it trying to figure out
18:33what it could be at some point we realized the flashing wasn't random it was following a pattern
18:39three short bursts followed by three longer ones followed by three short ones i guess i'm dumb for
18:45not knowing this but james snapped his fingers and said it was morse code i looked at him like he was
18:51crazy and asked him when in the world he had learned morse code he told me he didn't actually know it but
18:57he knew what three short three long three short meant sos i called bs and pulled out my phone but to my
19:05surprise he was actually right like i said maybe i'm dumb for not knowing that but i'm not really
19:11one for obscure knowledge anyway the flashing continued for another minute or so following
19:16that same pattern before stopping abruptly the two of us had just been staring at it the whole time
19:22i really didn't know what to think it could have been a joke but there was always that chance that
19:27someone was actually in trouble james immediately suggested calling the cops but i reminded him that we'd
19:33been drinking and we weren't legal yet i was honestly fighting a dui charge at the time so the
19:39last thing i needed was another run-in with the police he wasn't thrilled about that answer and i could
19:44tell he was torn about the situation the two of us couldn't really think of a rational explanation
19:49besides a kidnapping or something along those lines we thought it might have been someone who had
19:54fallen and needed help but that didn't make any sense because they probably would have just called
19:58the police we've always been those adventurous delinquent type guys so we decided it was worth
20:04checking out ourselves if it turned out to be serious we'd call the police then we went back
20:10inside james brother had a bunch of switchblade lying around his room he was kind of a weird kid
20:16so we grabbed a few of them just for peace of mind james said he was good to drive and that we should
20:22drive around the lake to that house but i told him i really wasn't comfortable with that for obvious
20:27reasons he joked about my situation and i laughed it off if we weren't driving there was only really
20:34one other option the two of us walked back out to the yard and dragged james dad's kayak into the
20:39water we were laughing at first enjoying the adventure of it all but the further out we got
20:45onto the lake the quieter we got i think both of us realized how dumb of an idea it was but neither of
20:51us wanted to be the one to spoil the fun the sun had almost fully set at that point and it was
20:56getting harder to see it wasn't pitch black or anything we had light from some of the lake houses
21:02to guide us but it was still a bit unsettling as we got closer the house came into view it was big
21:09like the others but it was obviously not maintained very well for starters the dock was half collapsed
21:15literally half of it was just sunken into the water the flashing had also stopped which was kind of a bad
21:22sign too we had planned on just tying the kayak to the dock but we obviously couldn't do that anymore
21:28given how unstable it looked luckily the yard wasn't too high up above the water so we beached the kayak
21:34on the yard instead careful not to slip on the rocks i felt the adrenaline rush start coming on
21:40i could tell james was feeling the same thing we looked up toward the house the light had been coming
21:46from the second floor that much we knew james was freaking out at that point and insisted that we
21:51just leave and call the police i told him we'd have to kayak all the way back to his house to even do
21:57that as there was no service on the lake and that we need to connect to wi-fi i reminded him that we had
22:02explored a million abandoned buildings before and this wasn't too different he wasn't thrilled with
22:08that logic but agreed anyway believe me i know how dumb this was everyone i talked to about this shares
22:15that same opinion but i've never been one to make good decisions and neither is james
22:19we didn't walk to the front door that would have been suicide instead we crept around the house until
22:26we found a window that was unlocked the two of us silently slipped inside the house was empty not
22:33just abandoned but empty like stripped there was no furniture and no junk in there either to be frank
22:40there was no signs that anyone had ever even lived there the floors and walls were completely bare
22:46we moved cautiously through the rooms looking for the stairs there was no one in sight and all the
22:52rooms were just as empty as the first one had been we finally found the stairs and slowly made our way
22:58up i had made a mental note of where the window was and we slowly walked down one of the hallways until
23:03we got to what i guessed was the room the light had been coming from i pressed my ear against the door
23:09and heard nothing i glanced over at james he nodded and i carefully pushed the door open
23:16the room was empty with the exception of one thing by the window i tiptoed over to it and realized what
23:23it was it was one of those old projectors and it was facing the window alarm bells immediately started
23:31going off in my head this was a trap someone had set this up deliberately james must have realized the
23:38same thing because i just heard him start sprinting back the way we had came not even trying to be
23:42quiet i turned without another thought and followed him as we were running down the stairs i heard a
23:49door presumably a closet door swing open from the room i had just been in followed by rapid thumping
23:54sounds we bolted down the stairs and back through the house to that first window james jumped through and
24:01i was next as i was climbing through i heard those footsteps from behind me again bounding down the
24:07stairs i didn't even look i just made it through the window and ran to catch up with james who was
24:12already down by the lake's edge as i was running to catch up to him i heard him curse and i quickly
24:18realized why the kayak was gone i turned and from the side of the house there was a person running toward
24:24us i could barely process what i was seeing he was fast i couldn't get a good look at him but he was
24:31big definitely an adult i pulled out my switchblade ready to defend myself i expected james to do the
24:38same but instead he turned and jumped straight into the lake sneakers hoodie everything i didn't even
24:44think i just followed the water was freezing but i didn't care i swam as fast as i could trying to
24:51fight the burning sensation in my arms and legs we swam toward the light from james house which
24:56looked like it was miles away the swim felt endless but on pure adrenaline we made it by the time we
25:03dragged ourselves onto james dock i thought i had hyperthermia i don't think i've ever been that cold
25:09in my life we ran straight inside locked every door and called the police it took them almost an hour
25:16to show up it was honestly kind of outrageous when they finally did they went straight across the lake
25:22to investigate they were over there for a while but when they came back they told us exactly what i
25:28expected to hear that there was no one they confirmed this house had been abandoned for years
25:33no signs of recent occupancy no footprints no gear no personal belongings nothing just an empty house
25:41they weren't happy with us they gave us the whole why didn't you call first speech james's parents
25:48were even more pissed when they found out let's just say i wasn't invited back to the lake house
25:52after that james told me his parents were threatening to sue the town for allowing something like that to
25:58happen and the police for refusing to investigate further as for me i still don't know what happened
26:03that night i don't know who was in that house or why they set that trap or what they planned to do if
26:09we hadn't run i don't think i want to most of my friends agree that it was a trap and think that
26:15whoever was planning the whole thing got cold feet until the last minute i really don't want to think
26:19about what would have happened if they had gone through with whatever they were planning on doing
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