4 Creepy TRUE Boardwalk Horror Stories
#Horror #Story #Stories #Scary #Ghost # Haunted #Fright #Nightmare #Real #True #Paranormal
#Horror #Story #Stories #Scary #Ghost # Haunted #Fright #Nightmare #Real #True #Paranormal
Category
📺
TVTranscript
00:00i don't live much of an exciting life but whenever people ask me for a scary story this is the one i
00:16tell i was 15 at the time about to start my sophomore year of high school i grew up in a
00:22typical beach town packed with tourists during the summer but a ghost town as soon as the season
00:26ended the bars and restaurants all closed down and it's just the locals the sky and the ocean if
00:33you've never been down the shore during the off season i would strongly recommend it it's one of
00:38the strangest yet most calming feelings you can get from this life as cliche as it sounds our house is
00:45on a street called surf avenue and it's only a block from the beach funny enough i know how to
00:51surf it would honestly be pretty pathetic if i lived on a street called surf ave without even knowing
00:56how to do it i'd lived there my whole childhood so the boardwalk and sand had always been a part
01:01of my routine damn near part of my personality to be honest i don't live in that specific house
01:06anymore but the property has stayed in the family so it still feels like a piece of me at the time
01:12i was on my high school varsity's cross country team and i was kind of obsessive about staying in shape
01:18even during the off season summers get insanely hot down the shore so i usually ran super early in the
01:24morning or late at night times when i wouldn't melt in the heat or have to be that jerk weaving
01:29in between crowds that night i decided to go for a late night run i'd stayed up pretty late with some
01:36friends the night before and slept in that morning so i kind of had no choice i never brought my phone
01:42with me when i ran it was always annoying not having music but even that little bit of extra weight would
01:48be enough to throw me off i don't know if they still make them anymore but i had this rinky dinky
01:53little garmin watch that i used to track distance and pace besides that the only other thing i'd
01:59carry was my house keys to put it mildly my parents were incredibly uptight about keeping the house
02:04locked so as annoying as it was i really had no choice but to stuff my house keys in my shorts
02:10pocket every time i went for a run even if they were home it was one of those non-negotiable rules
02:16i still don't really understand why my parents were so concerned about it especially because most
02:21private beach towns are typically super safe but that's neither here nor there i decided to stick
02:27to the boardwalk that night the surface was just soft enough to be easy on my legs but not as brutal
02:33as running on the sand sometimes i jog on the beach for a challenge but that wasn't happening after the
02:38day i'd had i just wanted a nice easy long run with minimal changes in elevation or terrain the boardwalk
02:45would give me just that i started zoning out after a few miles enjoying that euphoric runner's high
02:51i always tell people even today if you could break that first mental barrier which occurs after about
02:57three miles or so the rest of the run is easy and borderline enjoyable anyway i was listening to the
03:04slap of my shoes against the wood while simultaneously trying to concentrate on the distant sounds of the
03:08ocean i was in that perfect rhythm where you forget you're even running but then i heard it
03:14a faint clink i stopped and checked my pocket empty my stomach dropped it was my keys i crouched down
03:25peering through the gaps in the boardwalk but it was useless it was pitch black under there and there
03:31was no way i'd even be able to retrieve them from where i was i started cursing literally yelling out loud
03:38i know that sounds a little silly but the adrenaline was still pumping through me from the exercise and
03:43i was pissed that this detour had ruined my run i knew my parents would have killed me if i came back
03:48without those keys so without really thinking i jumped off the side and headed down to the sand
03:53it was also partly a matter of pride i wasn't just going to walk away from one of my personal belongings
03:59who does that the smell under the boardwalk hit me instantly it was like rotten seaweed mixed with
04:05stale beer that's honestly the best way to describe it imagine literally filling a bathtub
04:11with seaweed and beer it was damp and heavy and every step i took i kicked up sand and trash
04:18like i said before i didn't have my phone with me so the backlight on my watch was the only thing guiding
04:23me and it wasn't doing much i crouched down to the spot where i thought my keys had fallen
04:29they were nowhere in sight just more clumps of sand and scraps of garbage i'll repeat myself it was
04:36disgusting but i needed those keys i thought about just leaving them but decided that i had gotten this
04:43far and turning back now would mean i had gotten covered in garbage and stench for nothing i tried
04:48shifting the sand around a bit thinking maybe they had fallen beneath the surface but after a few minutes
04:54frustration started to creep in had i really misjudged the spot by that much i concluded that
05:01that was the most rational explanation that i had somehow misjudged where they had fallen
05:06i climbed back up to the boardwalk stood where i had stopped running and thought about how i could
05:10be sure of the spot underneath that's when i got this genius idea to use my shoelace as a marker
05:17i knelt down untied it and slipped it between the planks letting it hang that way i could crawl
05:23back onto the boardwalk and spot it from below easily as i was standing back up something tugged
05:29on the lace and it instantly disappeared into the crack not a breeze not me moving weirdly something
05:36from below i couldn't believe my eyes i was literally in shock someone had pulled it i took a
05:43step back and stared at the spot where my shoelace had just been there was someone underneath the
05:48boardwalk i instantly put two and two together whoever was under there probably had my keys too
05:55my first instinct was to run home and figure it out later but the thought of someone having my house
06:00keys knowing where i lived made my blood boil our house address was etched into them so i couldn't
06:07just leave some stranger with that kind of access i still don't know why i did it call it stupid
06:12teenage confidence but i took a deep breath jumped back into the sand and crawled under again it felt
06:19different the second time the air felt heavier and i was bracing myself for some kind of fight
06:25at one point i heard faint shuffling somewhere ahead of me my chest tightened i swung my watch
06:32light toward the sound but saw nothing just more sand and beams i kept moving and i heard shuffling again
06:40this time from a different direction that's when i realized the noise wasn't coming from one spot
06:46there were multiple people under there that was enough for me common sense struck me in the face
06:52like a freight train what in the world could i have possibly expected to happen was i just gonna
06:57fight some crackhead living under the boardwalk that was suicide i turned to get out of there trying
07:03not to panic but before i could make it all the way out something cold latched onto my ankle
07:09it was a hand i screamed in pain as fingernails dug into my skin i didn't think i just kicked as hard
07:16as i could my foot connected with something and whoever was holding onto my ankle let go
07:22i scrambled away my legs and arms scraping against the sand and wood as i pushed myself out into the
07:28open air i didn't stop running i sprinted straight back to my house when i reached the front door i pounded
07:35on it until my dad opened up to say he was pissed would be a massive understatement he was livid i was
07:43surprised he didn't get physical with me before he could fully flip out i explained everything the
07:49keys the shoelace the people under the boardwalk the commotion woke my mom up who was furious at first
07:55but when she saw the marks on my ankle her expression shifted to something closer to fear
08:00my dad didn't waste time he called the police and the next morning we had a locksmith come out and
08:05change all the locks on the house for a couple of days things felt normal again i figured that was the
08:12end of it just a weird messed up night that i'd try to forget but then a few mornings later i woke up
08:18to loud knocking at the front door it was early way too early for visitors i sat in bed for a while
08:28waiting for my parents to go deal with it when neither of them did i decided to do it myself so i
08:34pulled on a hoodie and went downstairs i looked through the peephole but there was no one there
08:40confused i opened the door looking around there was no one in sight i glanced around the street
08:46no cars no people right when i was about to close the door i noticed something out of the corner of
08:52my eye sitting on the doormat was a shoelace my shoelace the one from that night i slammed the door
09:00shut without another thought we got a security system installed that afternoon for weeks afterwards
09:07my family lived in constant fear but nothing ever happened after that when i think back to
09:12this experience i still can't rationalize the events that took place even though i don't live
09:18in that house anymore it still kind of creeps me out that some random stranger knows where our beach
09:23houses
09:34the thing about living in a beach town during the off season is that it feels deserted the tourists are
09:39long gone the storefronts are mostly boarded up and the boardwalk the heart of the town in the
09:44summer is nothing but an empty skeleton of itself i like it though it's peaceful that's why for the
09:51longest time i go for late night runs on the boardwalk in the off season when no one was there
09:56it was my detox from life and all the stresses that come with it sometimes you just need to be away from
10:02people there was something about the sound of the waves and the rhythmic slap of my sneakers against
10:07the wooden planks that calmed me it made me feel like i had the whole world to myself tonight was no
10:13different the air was crisp carrying that scent of salt and damp wood the only lights came from the
10:20occasional street lamp buzzing faintly casting long lonely shadows i was maybe a mile in when i got
10:27that feeling the one where you just know you're not alone i glanced over my shoulder a man stood in
10:34the distance not walking not moving just standing there on the boardwalk facing me i swallowed and
10:42turned back around shaking it off it was probably nothing maybe just another local taking a walk
10:49but honestly no matter what that's still gonna be an eerie sight to see i kept running but a few
10:54minutes later the feeling of being followed or watched came back even stronger my heart thudded
11:00more intensely not from exertion but something else the curiosity to turn around again thickened
11:08so i turned around again he was closer still not moving still just standing there facing me
11:14a deep crawling unease settled in my stomach i picked up the pace now taking out my one headphone
11:21that i had in my feet pounded against the wood breath coming quicker but every few moments i heard
11:28footsteps behind me in sync with mine i turned again he was even closer but still he was completely still
11:37i broke into a sprint the once soothing boardwalk felt like an endless trap stretching too far in
11:43both directions my car was at the very end parked right by the beach entrance i just had to make it
11:50there i ran harder than i ever had before my lungs burned my legs screamed but i refused to stop every
11:58few seconds i turned my head just enough to check and every single time he was a little closer still
12:05standing and still watching i didn't understand how he was able to stop so suddenly every time i turned
12:11around i wasn't even looking where i was going anymore just focused on getting away the boardwalk
12:17exit finally came into view and i nearly sobbed in relief when i saw my car i fumbled for my keys hands
12:24shaking so badly i could barely press the unlock button finally the lights flashed and i yanked the door open
12:30throwing myself inside and slamming it shut i turned the key in the ignition and backed the car out of
12:36the spot when i put the car in drive to whip the wheel to the left to turn out of there i looked
12:40ahead and the man was standing directly in front of my car right where my car had just been but i
12:47looked at him so briefly that i didn't even have time to make out any features all i saw was that he
12:51had his hood up covering a decent chunk of his face i cranked the wheel to the left and almost spun out
12:57as i whipped my car out of there the entire way home i didn't care if i ran a red light if i swerved
13:03or if i nearly spun out i just drove i didn't look back when i got home i locked every door every
13:10window every possible entrance i didn't sleep that night and i've had a couple of nightmares
13:16referencing that experience both in which that man appeared in some form watching me or chasing me
13:23my mind created its own versions of what he looked like i guess since i really didn't see his face
13:28and they were not pretty images i haven't done a winter run on the boardwalk since then
13:44this happened last summer i was 22 spending a weekend at the shore with a bunch of friends in
13:49the cheapest airbnb we could find it was the last night of our stay we'd been out on the beach all
13:55night with a bonfire just hanging out drinking and talking nothing crazy by the end most of my friends
14:02were ready to call it but i wasn't tired yet i figured i'd walk off the buzz for a bit and then
14:07find my way to the airbnb after that the boardwalk at night has this weird peacefulness to it everything's
14:13empty i haven't spent much time at the beach so it was all very new and interesting to me
14:19after wandering around for a while i realized i really had to pee i'm not really the type of
14:25guy to just do it in public which is something my friends often make fun of me for so this was a bit
14:29of an issue i spotted one of those public boardwalk bathrooms old beat up and barely lit not ideal but
14:37i didn't feel like holding it until i got back i pushed the door open and immediately regretted it
14:43the place smelled awful like a mix of bleach and whatever it was trying to cover up
14:48i figured i'd make it quick so i went to the farthest stall that's when i heard the door creak
14:53open again i winced annoyed that i'd no longer have privacy i listened as their footsteps slowly walked
15:01around they seemed to be circling the bathroom which was kind of odd at times i thought the footsteps
15:09were coming from multiple directions like there was more than one person but i wasn't sure eventually
15:15they stopped near the sinks just stopped no movement no coughs nothing the water didn't turn on either
15:23so i wasn't really sure what they were doing i finished up ready to get out of there but when i
15:29went to push the stall door open it didn't budge i jiggled the latch but the door was still stuck
15:36i wanted to punch the stall door that's how angry and uncomfortable i was but then the footsteps started
15:41again they were closer this time and i got this really naughty feeling in my chest i felt like someone
15:48was holding the door shut i tried to shove the door with my shoulder but still nothing the adrenaline
15:54was starting to kick in and a part of my brain began connecting the dots i decided i wasn't just
15:59going to sit there like some helpless target i charged the door with all the force i could muster
16:05and it finally gave way sending me stumbling out as i burst out of the stall i noticed the bathroom door
16:11swing shut like someone had just walked out i scanned the bathroom which was now empty that person
16:17who had been walking around in there was seemingly gone i hastily washed my hands and went to get out
16:23of there i grabbed the door handle but it wouldn't budge the handle wouldn't even turn as if the
16:29bathroom had somehow been locked from the outside i froze my mind was racing at that point was this
16:35some kind of prank i thought it was maybe one of my friends screwing with me but that didn't really make
16:41sense they had all left already they didn't even see where i had gone plus this wasn't really something
16:47any of them would do either way i was pretty freaked out at that point so i just gritted my teeth and
16:53started banging on the door i yelled for whoever was out there to open up but i didn't get a response
16:59just then i heard movement and one of the stalls behind me i whipped my head around and even though
17:05i couldn't see anything i knew there was a person in one of those stalls that meant there had been two
17:10people in there the whole time i didn't see any feet under any of the doors so they must have been
17:15standing on one of the toilets which was even more concerning i thought about calling the police but
17:21i needed to get to safety first i was in danger i noticed a grimy window up near the ceiling it
17:28wasn't big but i didn't have another option i climbed onto the sink beneath it which i literally thought
17:34was going to break under my weight and i shoved the window open as i was halfway out the window one of
17:39the stall doors burst open behind me and i locked eyes with a man he was really hairy and the palest
17:45skin i've ever seen he was dressed like a teenager but this guy had to be like 50 years old i didn't
17:52waste another second i scrambled the rest of the way through the window and dropped down onto the boardwalk
17:58my knee hit the ground hard but i didn't care i just ran when i got a safe distance away i called the
18:04cops they showed up pretty quickly it was a beach town after all but by the time they checked the
18:10bathroom that guy was long gone that part of the boardwalk was dead no cameras no shops opened that
18:17late so it's not like there were any cameras they could check i showed the officers where everything
18:22had gone down and one of them pointed to the scratches on the bathroom door handle saying it
18:26looked like someone had messed with it we all agreed whoever it was didn't want me leaving which was
18:32not the most comforting thing the officers told me i was smart to escape through the window and that was
18:38that i had to leave the beach the next day so i never got any kind of update on the situation i doubt
18:44the police even really investigated much anyway i'm sorry in advance if i mess up some details of the story
19:00but it happened when i was really young i don't remember exactly how old i was when it happens
19:04maybe eight or nine but i know it was during one of those summers my family spent at my grandparents
19:09beach house it was kind of like the family hub every summer a bunch of us my siblings cousins
19:16aunts uncles would pile in for weekends or weeks at a time the house wasn't super fancy or anything
19:23but it had like a million bedrooms and could sleep our whole family easily it was also really close
19:28to the beach so i used to spend entire days playing in the sand and exploring the neighborhood on my bike
19:34every summer i spent there was amazing it still feels like an extended fever dream especially
19:39now as i'm getting further and further removed from that blissful childhood i remember that summer
19:44being different though there was some big hurricane forecasted one that had all the beach
19:49towns scrambling to take precautions months in advance i'm not sure if other beach towns did this
19:55but ours built these massive sand dunes along the shore as a makeshift barrier i'm not sure
20:00if calling them dunes is exactly accurate they were huge i mean to a kid they looked like castle walls
20:07i bet the aerial view of the coast during that time would have looked absolutely nutty
20:11that summer my siblings and i would spend hours climbing the dunes tumbling down the other side
20:17pretending we were scaling mountains or sneaking into a fortress
20:20it was weird though as you could probably imagine usually when you're standing on the boardwalk facing
20:25the beach you can see the ocean stretching out in front of you but those dunes they completely block
20:31the view you'd walk along the boardwalk and instead of water there was just this giant wall of sand
20:38the beach also closed after a certain hour like the lifeguards would go off duty and people weren't
20:43technically permitted to go on the beach but that never really stopped us locals
20:47the town was safe the kind of place where everyone knew everyone and letting kids roam
20:52wasn't considered a big deal especially after the touristy crowds thinned out as long as we promised
20:58not to go in the ocean our parents didn't really mind and to be honest i was kind of a little
21:03troublemaker back then i liked pushing boundaries especially when i thought i could get away with it
21:09that's what led me to sneak out that evening it wasn't dark yet the sun hadn't even started setting
21:15but i hadn't asked permission to go out i just wanted some alone time i think i'd gotten into a
21:21fight with one of my brothers but i don't really remember the sliding door downstairs where all the
21:26kids bedrooms were made it easy to come and go unnoticed my older cousins had practically written
21:32the playbook on sneaking in and out usually for way more rebellious reasons than a solo beach walk
21:37but i'd learn from them even today we still laugh about how easy it was to sneak people in and out of
21:43the house without alerting the adults anyway as quietly as i could i stepped outside my bare feet
21:50not even bothering to put shoes on i made my way toward the boardwalk expecting to encounter some
21:55locals maybe even some kids my age even after beach hours there were usually people around anyone who
22:02had or was staying in a house down there really i was kind of surprised to see how empty it was it
22:08was a little strange i'm talking not a single soul outside it felt deserted in all honesty
22:15i walked along the boardwalk for a little while half expecting to see someone but i never did it
22:20was literally like the whole beach was asleep that night or something i was about to head back when i
22:26noticed something alarming there was a thin trail of smoke rising from beyond one of the dunes at first i
22:32thought it was just fog but i took a closer look and confirmed that it was smoke like smoke from a
22:39fire kind of smoke smoke on the beach wasn't that unusual even though it was really against beach rules
22:45and borderline illegal sometimes tourists lit bonfires but there was something about how empty everything
22:50was that night that made the smoke feel wrong to my mind it kind of looked like a volcano as the smoke
22:57sort of just emanated from the sand dune i looked around for an adult but there was no one just the
23:03empty boardwalk stretching out in both directions i should have gone home but curiosity got the better
23:09of me plus my parents had taught me to never turn my back on someone in need and this situation kind of
23:15felt like that i climbed the sand dune a little ways away from the smoke by the time i reached the top i
23:21was covered in sand i looked down the other side and saw what i expected to see a bonfire the weird
23:28thing is that it was completely isolated there was no one around there were no chairs no coolers nothing
23:35just a fire burning in the middle of an empty beach as if whoever had said it had abandoned it
23:40it didn't sit right with me even at that age i knew leaving a fire like that was dangerous
23:45i slid down the dune and made my way over to it i stood there for a second just staring at it i didn't
23:52know what else to do so i just started kicking sand onto it i did that over and over until the flames
23:58were finally suffocated i didn't want to leave it just yet i was way too curious i couldn't think of
24:05any reason why someone would light a fire just to abandon it unless they were trying to commit a crime or
24:10something i inspected the fire pit some more and made some eerie discoveries first there were clothes
24:17little kids clothes like stuff that i'd wear kids shoes socks half-burned fabrics i bent down using a
24:25stick to poke around i realized that the fire had mostly been clothes which gave me a really sick feeling
24:31inside but then i realized what else had been burning photos or at least what was left of them
24:38most were charred beyond recognition but one had survived enough for me to make out a face
24:43it was a boy probably around my age he honestly looked a little bit like me like if one of my
24:49parents told me he was a distant cousin or something i'd believe them the picture made me really scared
24:55i felt myself wanting to run and i dropped the stick i was holding i was just a little kid i obviously
25:01hadn't been through anything that scary before so i was really freaking out but it got so much worse
25:07i heard a voice shout out hey from somewhere in the distance i looked up and there was a man coming
25:13toward me from down the beach he was bald but i couldn't see much else of his face from so far away
25:19he was also staggering every few steps as if he were fighting not to trip over on his own feet
25:24it looked like he was drunk or something worse he yelled hey kid and started moving a little more
25:30quickly toward me i couldn't move i was frozen to the spot petrified in fear he yelled don't you go
25:37anywhere and that was what did it for me my little brain finally caught up to my body and i started
25:43running towards the sand wall the sand made running hard but i felt like i was in a life and death
25:48situation i started climbing the dune and i could hear him yelling obscene things behind me he was getting
25:54closer just as i reached the top i felt fingernails clawing at my ankle by some miracle he was never
26:01able to get a grip on me and i vaulted myself over the dune tumbling down to the bottom i sprinted for
26:07the boardwalk and ran all the way home i looked back a few times to make sure he wasn't following me
26:13which he wasn't but i kept running like my life depended on it when i got home i immediately went
26:19to my bedroom and started crying i wanted to tell my parents i really did but all i could think about
26:25was how i'd snuck out and how much trouble i'd be in so i kept my mouth shut looking back i know i
26:32should have said something i should have told my parents at least but i didn't and nothing ever came
26:38of it as far as i know there were no news reports no police at the beach the next day no reports of
26:44missing children in the area or anything like that i still don't know what to make of this even though
26:50it happened a long time ago i can't help but feel like there's more to the story i think what
26:55terrifies me the most is how eerily similar that kid in those photos looked to me sometimes i wish i
27:01could go back in time and tell my younger self to just fess up but that's just something i'll have to live with
27:14so
27:19you
27:21you
27:23you
Be the first to comment