3x26: The Church In The Woods

[00:00:05] My name is Andrew Tate and this is season 3 episode 26 of Let's Not Meet a true horror podcast I grew up in Ohio in the 70s and me and my childhood friend Joe were outside all of the time we could manage it

[00:00:31] Joe lived on a farm that bordered a pretty big forest and my parents would drop me off in the morning And we'd stay in the woods all weekend We'd only come out for school

[00:00:42] We loved pretending that we were frontiersmen. We'd build shelters, traps, practice making fire with sticks the whole nine yards When we got to be in high school, we got this notion to pull a stand by me

[00:00:57] This was based on the movie of the same name that had just come out The idea was that we would walk the railroad tracks out in the country But instead of looking for a dead body we'd find cool bridges to fish from and

[00:01:13] Camp a little ways off the tracks Of course, we knew this was dangerous and we'd likely be trespassing but we were kids We had a lot of fun. We did find beautiful rivers We discovered bridges that no one went to we fished we hid from the trains

[00:01:32] That night we camped in the woods just near the tracks and made small hidden fires Nothing bad ever happened. It was idyllic. In fact, it was so fun. We did it multiple times Never had a problem after high school me and Joe went our own ways

[00:01:49] We both left home but always stayed in touch and always tried to coordinate visits so that we would see each other occasionally One summer in the mid 90s. It worked out that we were both in town for about a week

[00:02:03] We'd do stuff with the family during the day and at night We'd either catch drinks at a bar or sit outside Joe's house around the fire and talk about the old days One night me and Joe got to talking about our standby me trips

[00:02:18] Well, nostalgia and beer are a hell of a mix Soon we decided to take a day and walk the rails. We would camp one night and then walk home The day came and we started out early in the morning

[00:02:32] We had my wife drop us off in our old spot where we used to start right outside our hometown She thought this was absolutely crazy and made sure to mention it

[00:02:44] When she pulled away Joe suggested that instead of walking the usual route, we'd take the opposite direction just to be adventurous We knew the land. Well, we had a map so I gave a what the hell and off we set

[00:02:58] The day went fine it was fun and a little sad but in a good way We found a bridge and sat on the edge smoked a joint then moved on We had no fishing gear, but we brought some canned food and other stuff

[00:03:12] Before night started to set in we picked a spot to camp It was a thick forested area trees on every side of the train track. So you felt like you were in a tunnel

[00:03:24] We had brought small hammocks to sleep in but before we set them up we decided to do a little scouting of the perimeter Now this is what we used to do in the old days as well

[00:03:37] We'd walk the area around a little bit to make sure that some dudes house wasn't just over a hill Then we were actually camping in their yard. We walked maybe a hundred or so feet into the woods up a small incline

[00:03:51] So we figured we didn't see anyone from the top of this short hill and we would be fine But when we got to the top We saw an old building down at the bottom about a hundred yards into the woods

[00:04:05] It was barely visible. We pondered what to do We both assumed that it was a sugar shack or something because there didn't appear to be any clear road into it From where we were there didn't look to be anyone in it either

[00:04:21] It was all quiet. No movement could be seen no lights. We decided to walk a little closer Just to make sure We came down the hill very slowly and as we neared the building we saw it wasn't a sugar shack at all It was an old church

[00:04:39] It looked like it had been abandoned for years It was a squat sagging building whose wooden planks were almost black from years of moss and rot Across still stood on top of the place all weathered in black

[00:04:53] None of the windows had glass and there were no doors just open doorways We got close enough to see the inside and there were rows of pews and a built-up section in front for a preacher to stand We didn't go all the way in

[00:05:09] We didn't want to beyond all that. There was no sign of anyone else. No footprints. No paths. No roads It was an abandoned church We left immediately and went back up the hill to our spot that we had picked a camp

[00:05:24] having a hill between us and the church made us feel a little better, but We were still a bit uneasy. We chalked it up to the natural creepiness of seeing a church in the middle of the woods

[00:05:36] Besides at this point it was dusk and we decided to rig up our hammocks and go to sleep and move on in the early morning Night set in and as we lay in our hammocks and shot the shit

[00:05:50] We began to hear something in the direction of the church Our conversation went a little like this Did you hear that? What the fuck is that? It sounds like It sounds like People singing and it did sound like singing

[00:06:08] We both slid right out of our hammocks and hunkered down straining to hear more We listened for a minute or two and the singing continued, but it wasn't getting louder

[00:06:20] Finally, we decided to creep back up the hill and see if we could spy where the sound was coming from We could still move very quietly in the woods from the old days it was second nature to us

[00:06:34] The moon was barely out, but it provided just enough light so that you wouldn't walk right into a tree But it was near pitch-black We didn't use flashlights as we slowly crept up the hill and we didn't talk

[00:06:49] When we got to the top we saw a light in the distance It was coming from the church and the singing was coming from inside Joe and I put our heads close together and had a hushed conversation that boiled down to can you believe this shit?

[00:07:08] the light looked to be a Candlelight from the way that it flickered and though we tried we couldn't make out what was being sung It sounded like church music, but in another language

[00:07:22] We sat and watched for a while trying to see who it was in there, but we only saw occasional shadows We had no intention of getting closer either We had about a football field length between us and we aimed to keep it that way

[00:07:40] The singing continued for a bit and then it stopped after that a booming male voice began to chant I Was already freaked out, but this voice thoroughly scared the shit out of me It sounded like some Old Testament preacher you see in movies

[00:07:59] But again, it was like he was speaking in a different language because we couldn't understand a single word Eventually it got to where the single male voice would say something and then a bunch of voices would answer in a song This lasted for a while and

[00:08:17] Then they all broke into this long sustained wail That just kept getting louder It got so loud and so disturbing that I had to cover my ears And it stopped at this point. I was just getting ready to say let's get the fuck out of here

[00:08:36] When Joe put a hand on my shoulder and hissed they're coming out We were far enough away that we couldn't make them out really well But we could see that it was a line of figures walking out the open doorway all holding hands and single file

[00:08:54] We could see some of them had flashlights They began to sing again and the light from the flashlights began to move towards us on the hill We booked it back down to our campsite grabbed our shit and ran to the tracks

[00:09:08] Once there we ran down the tracks in the direction that we had come from After a few minutes, we stopped and looked back and we saw lights coming down the hill. They were actually moving Erratically like whoever was holding them was shaking them

[00:09:25] We continued to run in spurts and walked as fast as we could We eventually stopped seeing the lights and came to a road By our map We knew a small town was about 15 minutes down it and we walked there

[00:09:40] Got to a 24-hour gas station and called my wife to come get us My wife and other friends all just thought it was kids messing around But I heard those voices and they sure as hell didn't sound like kids to me

[00:09:55] Not sure who those people were but it was definitely the creepiest thing that ever happened to me out in the woods So I'm a 23 year old female. I live in a townhouse with my two children two and six months old

[00:10:25] My fiance did live with us until about two weeks ago when I caught him trying to Sleep with other women and I made him move out I'm a stay-at-home mom and when he did live with us my ex worked evenings

[00:10:40] Let me set the scene we live in a tiny town in northern, Pennsylvania My line of townhouses sits in front of a big field that runs into a line of woods As far as I'm aware

[00:10:53] These woods stretched for at least a few miles and I'm not aware of any houses in there or any roads that lead through them My living room has three windows that look into a field and my bedroom on the second floor only has one window that faces

[00:11:11] That way as well People do tend to walk their dogs in the backfield and kids sometimes play back there But I rarely ever see anyone close to my house

[00:11:22] For that reason I tend to just leave my blinds and curtains open because I guess I just enjoy the view So in July of 2019, I'm laying on my bed trying to fall asleep

[00:11:34] All the lights were off, but I had my window and blinds open since it was so warm I was looking out the window and I noticed small red and white lights just outside I got up and looked to realize that the lights were coming from a drone.

[00:11:52] I ran downstairs to where my fiancee of the time was sitting in the living room then ran to the window I told him what I saw, but of course when he went to look it was gone.

[00:12:04] I was paranoid that the drone maybe had a camera on it and someone was watching me with it I kept my blinds closed for a while after that Fast forward to January of this year

[00:12:17] I guess I stupidly got comfortable and assumed that whoever it was flying that drone was a one-time creep My blinds were opened and I had just gotten out of the shower. I was sitting on my bed pretty much naked except for my underwear scrolling through my phone

[00:12:35] When out of the corner of my eye, I saw lights again out of the dark window It was that damn drone again. I ran out of the room and waited for a few minutes. I peeked back into my room and it was gone.

[00:12:49] I quickly shut my blinds and got dressed Honestly, I felt sick at how stupid I was to leave my window open again, especially when I was practically naked now for the really disturbing part My two-year-old son and I were out in the field two weeks ago

[00:13:08] Three days after I kicked out my boyfriend We were playing ball. I had my six-month-old strapped to me in the baby carrier Probably about half an hour after we had been out there. I heard a slight whirling noise coming towards us.

[00:13:26] I looked up and I saw that damn drone flying towards us. I looked around and I didn't see anyone It stopped right over us Freaked out I grabbed my son and dragged him into the house

[00:13:41] Looking back at the tree line every so often as we went. I knew they had been hiding in there. I went inside and closed the blinds then I called my mom and told her about the situation She told me just to keep an eye out

[00:13:56] I said I would my son likes to line his toys up along the windowsill So I figured it wouldn't hurt to open them up just an inch or so A little while later after we ate dinner and it was almost dark

[00:14:12] I was feeding my six-month-old and my son was playing. He was standing over by the window lining up his toys he started saying Dada, Dada I assumed he was just missing his father and dismissed him by saying that he was going to see him that weekend

[00:14:32] He kept on saying Dada, Dada I looked up and I saw him pointing to the window Under the little gap the blinds didn't cover. I froze. I remembered that he calls any man with facial hair Dada because it reminds him of his father

[00:14:56] But there was actually no way someone would be bold enough to actually come up to the window Not when my neighbors are literally right there Anyone could see them, but there aren't any lights out there

[00:15:10] So unless someone actually stepped out of their house, I guess nobody could actually see them. Maybe it was my ex But he should be at work at that time. I ran to the window and moved my son I didn't want to lift the blinds

[00:15:26] But honestly, I was sure it had to be the person who had been creeping on me for the past year And I wanted to see who it was. I pushed the blinds up and Was looking at a man who I definitely never saw before

[00:15:44] Crouched in front of me He was bald With a white mustache and goatee. I have no idea how old he was. He could have been anywhere from 30 to 50 When he saw me he smiled and stood up.

[00:16:00] I yelled and told him to fuck off that I was calling the cops He just stood there Smiling at me like some freak. I was about to close the blinds again When he said something that I couldn't hear.

[00:16:18] I told him to leave again, and he said louder this time. I just want to talk to you. I shook my head no and yelled the same thing to him. He started to slap his hands in the window yelling no, no

[00:16:36] Over and over. I grabbed my phone scared he was going to try and break in and dialed 911 My kids were crying from the yelling and I felt like I was on the verge of tears

[00:16:49] I told the operator what was going on. The whole time I was on the phone The man was pounding on the window screaming now He was yelling all kinds of nonsense, and I only caught some of it. He said he's been watching me for months

[00:17:03] I'm beautiful. He wants to come in with me He'll kill my children if I don't let him in The operator told me to go into the upstairs room and hide until the police arrive My town doesn't have a police department, so we rely on the state police

[00:17:22] She said it could be about 20 minutes But to stay on the phone with her the man was practically punching my window now and just screaming like a maniac. I was about to grab my kids and run upstairs when I heard someone else screaming

[00:17:38] The man bolted. I looked at the window, and I saw my neighbor and his girlfriend I opened the window and my neighbor said that he heard the man so he ran around the building

[00:17:49] He said that when the guy heard him he ran back into the woods and disappeared into the tree line They said they also called the police I thanked him a hundred times. The police arrived ten minutes later

[00:18:03] They did a quick search around the building and in the trees, but obviously they didn't find anything I've been very paranoid since then and stayed at my parents a few nights after it happened

[00:18:14] I don't know why the guy targeted me or why he waited so long to do something I'm just happy my neighbors were there to intervene or who knows what would have happened

[00:18:24] So to the creep who's been stalking me and my family for the last year. I genuinely hope we never ever meet again This was over a year ago, so I'm safe now I had broken up with my now ex back in January of 2019

[00:18:49] My doing. I was angry at everything and had joined Tinder I talked to a guy that seemed pretty cool and was quite attractive. I talked to him quite a bit, took a lift down to where he lived

[00:19:03] Now his dad had passed away not too long ago, so he moved back in with his mom to help out I found that very sweet, and so I thought nothing of it

[00:19:13] We took a lift to Walmart and to the liquor store as his mom had requested some wine. I had bought a pizza to bake at their home to make a decent impression

[00:19:25] I also purchased her wine which she gave me cash for despite my protests again trying to make a good impression This home was gorgeous. They had an old-timey jukebox And the freaking sink taps in the bathroom were installed in the mirrors

[00:19:44] Water flowed from a spout in the freaking mirrors His mom was as sweet as southern tea and seemed to have taken a liking to me So this guy had been messaging his lesbian best friend

[00:19:59] We'll call her C, and explained that he had helped her out after she broke her ankle and such Again I thought what a nice guy We drank, we had sex, and everything was cool

[00:20:12] I had told him I had borderline before we met up and had warned him I had scars from previous cutting incidents But nothing recent He was fine with it and understood

[00:20:25] The next morning I had an interview at a major company's call center and his mom offered to drive me She was a sweetheart I did great at the interview and was offered the job. I immediately texted this guy to tell him the good news

[00:20:40] So one day when I was home I had slept for about eight hours And I woke up to a dozen text messages and over 20 Facebook messages from him it ranged from hey How's it going to? Fuck it's hard to say this I had seen the messages

[00:20:58] Progressed as I quickly scrolled through and saw one that says and I have a picture of this still Those cut marks on your arm. Yeah, I Wouldn't have dated a cutter anyway most of them are fucking pathetic that need to get some serious fucking help

[00:21:14] Might as well keep doing that since it seems to be your only friend I Blocked him Then I posted it to my Facebook page So if anyone knew him they would know what he was actually up to Now I get a friend request from his lesbian friend see

[00:21:35] She filled me in She was not a lesbian She had just broken up with him hours before befriending me so they were still dating when he had me over And he told her I was a lesbian Also that he goes by his middle name

[00:21:53] Now I had done a basic search with the name that he provided and on his Facebook page to make sure He wasn't a felon or some shit before meeting up with him Well when I did the search with his real first name Sure is shit

[00:22:10] So many charges including child pornography He had been stalking her Pinging her phone location and messaging her shit like oh what you're not gonna leave your house now And he told her to kill herself

[00:22:27] She had gotten the cops involved. She sent me a screenshot of the messages. He was sending We talked a bit more and while I'm not a medical professional it was kind of clear something was wrong

[00:22:40] He was lying he was manipulative aggressive angry and obviously his moods would flip faster than mine I Offered to send her what I could of the messages in case she could use them to build a case against him

[00:22:55] Shortly after I get a friend request from a name. I don't recognize something generic like Mike Then I get a message. Hey, it's Jay. How's it going? How's your job at the new company?

[00:23:10] He even named the company that I was hired at I was freaked out. He knew where I worked The building was secure, but the parking lot not so much

[00:23:23] I got pepper spray and called my dad who has been in the police force and such since before I was alive he advised not to carry a baseball bat because If it was wrestled from me it could be used against me but pepper spray was a decent choice

[00:23:41] He also said that while online bullying isn't something the police can do much about If he messages me again, it goes into the harassment area and it needed to be reported as soon as possible. I Was getting off of work after midnight, and I was scared shitless. I

[00:24:00] Parked as close as I could to the building as possible pepper spray in hand Fortunately, I haven't ran into him since I do not want to meet him again I've also moved since and changed jobs If it sounds too good to be true It really fucking is You

[00:24:28] So this was about five months ago, I don't remember it with complete clarity and I'm not the best at storytelling so Bear with me. I'll do my best This was about 2 a.m. In downtown Denver a friend of ours hosts a D&D session every Sunday

[00:24:49] Me and my partner normally stay the night, but we had plans the next Monday and had to go early We say our goodbyes to everyone grab our bags and head out It wasn't a long walk at all to the car even a block away

[00:25:05] Me and my significant other started walking and chatting about the session Then we both got silent at the same time Someone was behind us But I don't know how we both knew he was going to be bad news

[00:25:21] He continued to follow us to the parking garage and right before we entered he spoke up Are you ladies 18 or older? Now, I'm a bigger girl. I'm 510 and I definitely knew how to hold my own against creeps This guy struck me as being different

[00:25:43] He was a good foot taller than me blonde blue-eyed male with one hell of a disgusting smile Me being the dumb polite person that I am. I said something like yeah, why and he proceeded to start saying things like Do you pay your taxes?

[00:26:05] With the quick response of sorry, we aren't really at that stage in our lives yet He quickly responds with a long rant about how taxes are terrible and you should never pay them They're using our taxes to kill people all of the time. The government is killing people

[00:26:22] Everyone's killing people and they get away with it so easily at this point He begins to move closer and closer to us My partner is backing up into the garage and my dumb ass is too scared to move

[00:26:36] Just trying to keep him focused on myself rather than her He gets within a few inches of my face and I tried to casually step back and keep my movements looking natural And I straighten my back out

[00:26:50] Compensating for the fact that this person is larger than me. His breath was horrible You could smell the alcohol with every single word that came out of his mouth and his blue wristband was still on

[00:27:02] I don't know if that's a bar thing. All I know is he had one He continues on with his rant and my significant other tries to argue back a bit He starts to move away from me towards her when she stops arguing with him in his rant

[00:27:20] It goes from taxes to political figures and genocide, you know I could kill anyone I want and get away with it Anyone can the government is watching and they don't care. They'll never know His words weren't really making sense, though

[00:27:38] We're all killing this planet. It could all be solved if we were less of a population Mind you this guy was back in my face staying as close as possible If either of us went on our phone or our watches he'd shift to them completely

[00:27:55] Not to compliment him, but he was very perceptive for someone I assume was drunk out of their mind the conversation continues for about five minutes. Maybe ten It felt like an hour though. I

[00:28:08] Introduced myself using my character name and I shook his hand which allowed me to see a bunch of track marks on his arm I'm freaking out on the inside thinking I'm going to get stabbed today

[00:28:22] I've never been in a fight. How the hell do I handle this all the while just smiling and agreeing? His behavior shifted still staying way too close to me and he starts scratching himself all over

[00:28:37] Reaching into his left pocket over and over every time he says kill or references it Honestly at this point I was more pissed than scared and started trying to work around him as I was stepping back As he was leading me into a wall

[00:28:55] It wasn't working no matter how hard I tried to walk Or where I was trying to go He was always right there in my face talking about killing anyone He wanted that it would solve the world's problems if people just went out and killed hundreds of others. I

[00:29:14] Got fed up and I stepped quickly to my right Then backed up straight out of the garage He followed so did my partner behind him we were finally out in the open I

[00:29:27] Sent so many desperate looks for people walking by as he kept getting more and more pushy and even closer to me So much so that he was almost chest-to-chest with me. I Don't know what came over me

[00:29:39] But I grabbed my significant other's arm and I mustered up the best smile I could and I said I want to hold your hand As a gay person with a few homophobic and crazy people encounters This is my worst idea ever

[00:29:56] She handed me her hand and I pulled her over to me and this man that seemed like a huge threat backed up so quickly saying oh You two are together I'm not cool with that. I have a great night This guy turned tail because we were gay

[00:30:16] The one time my sexuality has ever probably saved me rather than put me in danger We waited until he was far enough away Then we ran straight to the car

[00:30:27] The second we got in we locked the doors and drove off. I was shaking the whole car ride home We actually passed him later down the road Me and him made eye contact as per usual

[00:30:41] To the guy who stopped us on the street that night. Let's not meet Thank you for listening to this week's episode of let's not meet a true horror podcast this week You have heard church in the woods by reddit user outworlder

[00:31:09] 39 creep has been stalking my home for almost a year and tried to break in two weeks ago by reddit user red clock 0413 tender date gone wrong by reddit user Christy bug 07 and Finally just trying to go home by reddit user summer Hawk orb

[00:31:27] Don't forget to send your stories in to let's not meet stories at gmail.com To hear them on the show and for any questions email me at let's not meet podcast at gmail.com If you're interested in getting more content head over to patreon.com

[00:31:41] Forward slash let's not meet podcast to get access to the hours and hours of bonus content. I have on there I'm updating it every single week. I'll see you guys next week for a brand new episode of let's not meet