Scary Late Night Moments

[Joel]

I thought I would start this thread after I was awoken by my girlfriend this morning at 3am. It turns out to be a rather funny story, but we'll get to that. Sorry about the length.

Anyway, here is the story; I was awoken, and while struggling to grasp that I was awake, I asked my girlfriend if she woke me deliberately, the answer, in a whisper was, 'Yes, I can hear someone out there'. Meanwhile, I struggled to understand what she was saying, and was being a bit loud when I asked her again what she was telling me, anyway she told me again and I asked her where she could hear noise from because I was still waking up. She told me, out in the kitchen and loungeroom.

I had a listen, and noticed the same noise, it seemed someone was going through the draws in the kitchen, and opening and closing the cupboards. I also noticed that it sounded like someone was moving around on the bean bag in the loungeroom.

My girl told me she'd been hearing the same noise for the past half an hour, and had locked her bedroom door. We live with three others, but I didn't think that they would be up at that time, and make that much racket.

Anyway, I knew the room didn't have anything in it to defend myself with, except a door whedge, so I asked my girl if she wanted me to call the cops, she said yes. I called 000, and spoke to the operator in a whisper, hoping to avoid whatever was out there from hearing us, and the operator said the cops were on their way. They told me to call back if I continued to hear noises.

I got off the mobile, and heard the noises continuing, and I said to my girlfriend that it could be the dogs or rats, because I doubt someone would have got into the house without alerting the dogs. Anyway, ten minutes went by and we heard the dogs begin to bark, and a knock at the door. My girl didn't want me to go out, butI decided I would get up and have a look, because I gathered it would be the cops, so I armed myself with a door whedge. In the meantime, the racket had woken our friends up who were sleeping in another room.

I walked straight to the front door, and thankfully it was the cops, and I let them in. My gf raced came to the front door and told us that the kitchen was a mess, and there was stuff all over the floor. So I walked into the kitchen with the cops following and in the bin was on the floor, with rubbish all over the ground.

One of the little mutts had knocked over the bin and was enjoying making a racket going throught rubbish. Bloody little mutt!

Anyway, so my question is, has anything similar happened to you before, or has there been the real thing? What scary things have happened to you at night?

 

[Mr X]

Bet the cops were happy to be called out for that.

How could you not at least go and check first when you have the dogs sleeping in the house?

Bad luck tough man.

 

[Joel]

Actually, the cop said he would have done the same thing.

The thing with the dogs, one is in a friends room most nights, the other is bloody old and spends most of the time out in the backyard, so it doesn't usually hear a thing until the other dog starts barking, and it joins in.

With nothing in my girlfriend's room to defend ourselves with, there is no way known I would take on an intruder, there are way too many unpredictable people out there.

Seriously, how would you react in such a situation? I guess you would go out Rambo style and try and take them on with your bear fists. Oh yeah...good one tough man.

 

[Mr X]

Originally posted by Joel

Seriously, how would you react in such a situation? I guess you would go out Rambo style and try and take them on with your bear fists. Oh yeah...good one tough man.

When the noises were as loud and consistent as you said they were for that long, I would be ruling out a burglar pretty quick. I would at least open the door to check if I could see anything before doing anything else, with the noises being that loud, it is doubtful they would hear you open a door.

When you live with other people, did you even consider that it may have been one of them??

Face it man, you over-reacted, and were whipped into a frenzy by your girlfriend.

 

[Joel]

The noises actually weren't that loud, but were audible enough to think that there was someone in the house. Personally, I said to my girlfriend that it is probably just a rat, or the dog has gotten to something.

I knew it wasn't anyone that lives in the house, because they wouldn't be up at that time of morning (when they are working the next day), for that long.

I also thought it could be some homeless bugger that was in a for a free feed.

I forgot to add one important bit of information, the front door is often left unlocked because people forget to lock it when they go to bed.

Mate, there are so many variables, it is easy to judge what one person did, and think you would do different. I would rather be safe than sorry, that is my choice. Like I said, if there was anything in the room to defend myself with, I would have gone and checked as soon as I was woken up. Unfortunately there wasn't, but that was my choice, and if I'm left red faced from that, then so be it.

 

[Uncle Steve]

Originally posted by Joel
Seriously, how would you react in such a situation?

If it happened to me, I'd walk out there stark naked with a hard-on, a blunt instrument in my right hand and a jar of vaseline in the left.

If it was a burglar, then I figure he'd take one look and run screaming...

 

[Joel]

HAHA! Sensational. I should have thought of that.

 

[evade28]

if i ever suspect that someone is in my house, i always go and check!!

 

[Homer]

Originally posted by Uncle Steve
If it happened to me, I'd walk out there stark naked with a hard-on, a blunt instrument in my right hand and a jar of vaseline in the left.

If it was a burglar, then I figure he'd take one look and run screaming...

This is an awesome idea for us males... But what is the female version of this.. So they DO scare the burgular away?

 

[Blues4Life]

I don't think you overreacted at all, taking on the unknown just to be a hero might be 'manly', but it's also very stupid IMO. If Joel had peeped out and saw that there was in fact a burgular, and ifthat burgular looked like the old bird off Golden Girls, and then he still called the cops then yes I would say he's chicken **** and overreacted. But nowadays theres way too many people who are unpredictable when startled and backed into a corner, and I think it's safe to say if it was a burgular they would have been armed with more then a door whedge.

Anyway my story is very strange also, though not nearly as dramatic. I woke up at 2:30am one night to some loud bangs outside and the dogs going nuts round the side. Been the only one home I was abit startled, but since it was windy I assumed something had just blown over. I grabbed my Mark Waugh V 100 cricket bat (played some fine shots with that bat in the backyard, ahhh the memories) from beside my bed and went to the backdoor to investigate. Noticing upon inspection that afew bins and chairs had fallen over, I waited afew more minutes before going back to my bedroom. When I got back to my bedroom I put my bat next to my Adidas thongs, which I noticed had one of the biggest redback spiders inside them that I had ever seen. Normally when I wake up I go outside to let the dogs out, get the paper, bring the bins in etc. and I always put the thongs on without looking at them. Needless to say, if the bins and chairs hadn't fallen over and I hadn't woken up I would've spent the next few days in hospital (or dead, which in case would be much longer then afew days) nursing a nasty spider bite.

Oh and yeah I killed the spider

 

[Squeak]

Originally posted by Joel
Seriously, how would you react in such a situation?

Yell out, "hello, is anybody there?". Gives them a chance to run away. Well, I'm an idiot.

 

[evade28]

whats with this door whedge ' stuff, i thought it was a WEDGE.

 

[M29]

I would have ruled out robbers instantly. Why on earth would they be going through your kitchen draws? Unless it was a group of junkies looking for some new spoons.

 

[Kid Dynamite!]

I get up religiously at 3am every night for a drink, and last night was no different. As I was closing the fridge door I heard a floorboard creak, so following my instincts I turned around and saw a shadow move in the light of the fridge door. So I turned and sprinted out of the kitchen, down the hallway and locked myself in the toilet just to collect my thoughts after being scared ****less. I took the opportunity to go to the toilet and waste a bit more time whilst figuring out what to do -- I dont often hear strange noises in the middle of the night when I'm up for a drink, nor do I see things moving about. After gathering myself together I flushed the toilet, unlocked the door and held it open for a while, not moving, just standing there listening in case the "thing" was waiting for me in the kitchen doorway. After hearing a few small sounds I decided to make a dash for it and so I closed the door, turned the light off and went hell for leather down the hallway, past the kitchen door, turned the corner, ran into my room, dived under the covers and lay there shivering for ten minutes.

This morning after letting my mum know all about it, she explained she'd left the kitchen window open and the curtains would have been billowing about, so that was probably the shadow I saw moving. As for the noise, that was unexplainable at the time, but I still felt pretty freaked out

 

[Blues4Life]

Originally posted by M29
I would have ruled out robbers instantly. Why on earth would they be going through your kitchen draws? Unless it was a group of junkies looking for some new spoons.

That's true, though in the heat of the moment the most obvious reasonings are overlooked in place of a worst possible scenario.

 

[Mooster]

I'm well armed. I pray for intruders.

 

[raskolnikov]

When I was 12 my family moved into a rental home while our home was being built. We found out about a week later that a girl who lived there before we moved in had been bitten by a funnel-web spider and died. A week later my sister was about to pick up her schoolbag when she noticed a spider sitting on it. She called out to Dad who came and removed it. It was a funnel web.

A few days after that I woke up about two in the morning and noticed a spider crawling quite quickly down the wall towards my bed. I screamed "help"a few times at the top of my voice and mum and dad rushed in. They turned the light on and discovered that is was only a daddy long legs.

 

[Joel]

Originally posted by Mooster
I'm well armed. I pray for intruders.

I am as well, now.

 

[noodle]

Originally posted by Mooster
I'm well armed. I pray for intruders.

of course you do. you're american. you guys live in a constant state of fear.

 

[Mooster]

Originally posted by noodle
of course you do. you're american. you guys live in a constant state of fear.

I don't live in fear. The only people I've ever met who live in fear have psychological problems.

When I have to investigate a strange noise, I am elated. I smile the toothy grin of the predator rather than arming myself with a plastic fork and hoping the intruder is a nice fellow. If I had to do that I would be afraid. I don't have scary late night moments.

Peace,

 

[beckybiglands]

anything can scare me at night... you just feel that lil more vulnerable... i once got scared because a guyfriend wasn't snoring... thought he was dead...

 

[Mooster]

Originally posted by beckybiglands
anything can scare me at night... you just feel that lil more vulnerable... i once got scared because a guyfriend wasn't snoring... thought he was dead...

There's a physiological reason for the night jitters. We aren't wired to be nocturnal. When sunlight enters our retina, it stimulates our brains to become active, thoughtful (and most importantly) rational.

Artificial light doesn't have the same effect. In fact, it can drive some people batty because it is actually an unnatural high-speed flicker that our subconscious abhors. With the absense of sunlight, our brains go into a rest mode. This includes the mechanisms for more rational thought.

Therefore, when you hear a noise or see movement out of the corner of your eye, any instant translation as to the cause is likely to be less rational than it would be in sunlight. So you get spooked. A lot of times, the noise or 'movement' themselves are phantoms created by the less alert mind.

Peace & pleasant dreams,

 

[dr nick]

Originally posted by Mooster
I'm well armed. I pray for intruders.

which state are you from. No offence and probably no reflection on you, but the biggest redneck i know is from Oklahoma. He is the sort of guy that is three times as loud as the rest of the ambient noise in restaurants, which is even worse when he rattles on about "this isn't real meat. Yar where i come from i ate meself wild deer, fresh off the ranch."

- this guy lives for the day someone uninvited tries to pick his front door open. He has the rifle squarely aimed at the front door from the comfort of his tv chair. He shot the neighbours dog for walking on his property once and hung its head, trophy like, by the front fence.

 

[mantis]

Originally posted by beckybiglands
anything can scare me at night... you just feel that lil more vulnerable...

Get a dog, I would know the second someone came into my house at night, because my dog would be going ballistic & the intruder would be screaming, I don't even close my back door at night, I don't feel vunerable at all.

 

[beckybiglands]

Originally posted by mantis
Get a dog, I would know the second someone came into my house at night, because my dog would be going ballistic & the intruder would be screaming, I don't even close my back door at night, I don't feel vunerable at all.

*giggles* erm i have a dog... but he's a cute innocent beagle...
i do feel a little safer with the dog and the cat around, if something aint right they know about it before me