On Halloween night in 1998, I was living alone in a small two-story house outside Salem, Oregon.

I had only moved there four months earlier.

That evening, the neighborhood was crowded with families, costumes, and people going from house to house.

Everything seemed normal.

Until I noticed someone standing across the street.

A tall stranger wearing faded blue coveralls and an old scarecrow mask.

He wasn't carrying a candy bag.

He wasn't visiting any houses.

He was simply standing beneath a tree, facing mine.

A little later, my doorbell rang.

The scarecrow was standing on my porch.

He didn't ask for candy.

Instead, he looked past me toward the staircase.

Then he asked,

Is somebody else home?

I told him I lived alone.

He kept staring upstairs.

Then he asked something that made me uncomfortable.

Are you sure?

I assumed he was trying to scare me.

But after he left, I noticed the upstairs hallway light was on.

A light I couldn't remember switching on.

Later that evening, I heard strange creaking sounds coming from the second floor.

Then the scarecrow returned.

This time, he pointed toward my bedroom window.

And told me something I wasn't prepared to hear.

The guy up there keeps watching people.

I told him nobody was upstairs.

He seemed genuinely confused.

Then he said,

I just saw him.

I called the police.

Officers searched the house, including a narrow storage space behind a wooden panel in an upstairs closet.

They found nobody.

I tried convincing myself the stranger had been playing a Halloween prank.

Until later that night, when I picked up my telephone downstairs.

And heard something that made me realize I might not be alone after all.

Someone had picked up the other telephone.

The one beside my bed.

Upstairs.

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🎧 A suspenseful Halloween horror story about a mysterious masked stranger, an apparently empty house, strange sounds from the second floor, and a warning that may have come too late.

Experience realistic psychological horror through calm, deep-voice narration, perfect for headphones, late-night listening, long drives, and scary stories for sleep.

🌙 Scary Stories for Sleep • Halloween Horror Stories • Realistic Horror • Deep Voice Narration • Creepy Stranger Encounters • Psychological Suspense • Calm Audio

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