Ok slightly OT question, but I was reading through the stories and it got me thinking. In most cases when we hear something outside we froze, switched off lights tv etc. If you are home alone wouldnt it be better if we put on the lights, tv etc to make it seem like there are a bunch of people at home and we have heard the intruder to startle him away rather then let him think the house is empty or we havent heard him?
From the safety point of view, what would be the best thing to do?

^^ hmmm, I guess it depends. If it's an intruder, that's not a bad idea to make noise if they were hoping no one was home so they could break in and steal things.

But if it's a stalker-type or just some weirdo I wouldn't want to make it known that anyone was home otherwise they would just keep pounding on the door. If that ever happened to me I'd try to keep absolutely quiet and grab a phone and call the police.

Why oh why does it seem the majority of these stories happen in rural wooded areas??!!!! Yikes. I live in a semi-rural area and my sister lives in the country. You always think out there you are safe because it's sort of the middle of nowhere....! Crap, I have to see this movie!!!

Originally Posted by lovinalotofbags

My brother and a friend rented my parents house in Philly I was staying with them while in college. My sister was visiting and it was just the two of us in the finished basement. My room was near the front of the house with a window under the enclosed porch. I was asleep and noise woke me up. I thought it was a cat or something but as I listened it almost sounded like someone was upstairs. So in the dark I went upstairs to the porch and saw that the side window was up a little. I closed it and secured it. I turned on the outside light and I saw someone crouched down beside the step. I wish I had some sort of BB gun b/c when he was crouched down he was also at the basement bathroom window. I called the cops, they eventually did a drive by but the person had left. I am just so thankful I was at the house with my sister b/c she could have been there alone. We live in a rural area quite a ways off the road. It was dark outside. Someone knocked on the side glass door. I told my mom to get the shotgun. I always like to be prepared. They wanted to use the phone. I locked the door, got the phone for them and relocked the door. When he was done, he knocked and handed it back to me. It was a dark walk for him back to the road. I could not even see him walking.

I know that's right! That's the only reason I'll answer a door late at night, IF I answer the door! With my shotgun in hand, cocked and loaded!

nothing happened to me but my DH's friend lived near the border of Mexico and one late night a bunch of illegal immigrants knocked on their door asking for water. it is creepy but not as much as these other stories. but everytime we hear a unusual noise late at night each of us would get a weapon just in case someone does break in. i'm kind of freaked out to watch that movie The Strangers.

When I was in college, lived with a friend who's father bought the house we were in. It was right on the edge of the hood, up the hill through a bunch of trees from a project.
We left the lights on 24/7, except for the rooms we slept in.
We had no garage, alot of the homes in the neighborhood didn't either. I had come home that day & had to park up the street away from the house, the street was full of cars in front of our house. My roommates left later that day & with my car not on the drive or near the house, it looked like no one was home.
I was awake in my bedroom reading the Sunday paper. All the lights were on as usual. It was about 1am & I hear the door bell ring. I went into my absent roomies bedroom to see if I could see who it was. They were standing too close to the door to tell. I walked in the hall & heard a ripping sound! They were slicing through the screen! (Out of habit, I had locked the screen door.) I ran to the front door & pounded on the inside of the door, they were not getting inside with me there!
I scared the heck out of this 16-18 year old kid. He went screaming bloody murder down the street! He thought no one was home since no cars were parked in the drive. I could see him running for about 2 house lengths, screaming the whole time!

I read a few posts last night and of course, woke up in the middle of the night because I thought someone had knocked on the door!!
After tiptoeing around my apartment for a minute I heard the sound again-- just the refrigerator...I was so scared though. I am a dork.

When I was in middle school, the doorbell rang in the middle of the night in the summer, of course I was up because you stay up all night when you're young. I looked out the window and saw the kids across the street running back to their house. My parents had woken up by then, and we sat there and watched them come back over. Right when they were at the porch, my dad yanked the door open really quick and scared the crap out of them. What did they expect? They already rang the doorbell once. Idiots

My neighbor had someone peeking in their window yesterday in broad daylight. I'm always alert when I go outside, day or night. But at night I don't answer the door. During the day I try to sneak and peak out quietly to see who it is. We get a lot of soliciters and crap that I don't have time to deal with too.

I am totally hooked on this thread Sooooo has anyone seen the movie yet?


I just remembered about a month ago, my mom told me that a house on the next street over and one block down got broken into. The house was a corner lot and the driveway wrapped around to the back with the garage back there as well. He has a privacy fence so you can't see anything from the street. The robber opened up the garage and pulled his truck in. He was able to steal laptops, family jewelry and TV's. Well the homeowner came home and entered through his front door. He walked in on the intruder and they got into a fight. My mom said he got beaten up pretty badly but he was able to get the License plate #. The police traced down the number but a lady who owned the car said her car was just stolen I'm sure she knew the robber! This happened at about 3 o'clock in the afternoon.

I haven't seen the movie and probably won't but I do have a story.

During college, I lived with roommates in a house that used to have a security system. The security system was off but everytime a window or door was opened it would beep three times. I was blowdrying my hair in the restroom one night and heard the beep. Both my roommates were out of town visiting their family so I thought an intruder had gotten in. I locked myself in the restroom and didn't come out for half an hour with only a blowdryer as protection. Turns out my roommate had let her friend come into the house through the garage into the kitchen to grab something off the counter.

Originally Posted by wordbox

^ When I read the title to this thread I thought about that movie, haha. I saw it last night. I haven't had someone knock on my door, but I was lying in bed one night after midnight trying to fall asleep and I heard someone tapping on my bedroom window. Scared the bejeezus out of me. At first I just stayed put, my eyes wide open, hoping it was something else (like what, a tree? there was nothing by my window). Anyhow, I heard someone tap again, louder this time, and I flew out of bed and ran and got my mother (I was in high school at the time). So we peek out the front window and both of us got freaked because there was a man just standing there in our yard. Turns out, it was my sister's ex-boyfriend. I took over her old bedroom after she moved out, so he gave it a try to see if she was there. It was really scary at first, though! When we were little kids, my mom and had gone out with her boyfriend for a date and my cousin babysat me and my sister. We had fallen asleep on the couch, so when my mom came home she decided to let us be. She went upstairs (with her boyfriend), and a little while later a man walked in through the front door (at the time no one in our town locked their doors) and went upstairs and into my mom's room. She woke up and saw him standing at the end of her bed. She was so lucky her boyfriend was staying there! He chased the man out, and my mom hurried downstairs to get me and my sister (and was totally freaked because he had walked right by us when he came in), and she brought us upstairs to call the cops. She looked out her bedroom window and could see the guy standing outside across the street, staring up at her through the window!

Is this... a true story?

Well nothing bad like these stories has happened to me thankfully, but I was once the creepy person! I travel for work and got back to the hotel at like 2AM once. For some reason my hotel door wouldn't open no matter how much I swiped the thing and pushed. After a few minutes of my sleepy mind jiggling on the handle and everything, my door opened and there was a man inside the door! Turned out I got off on the wrong floor and had been trying to get into the wrong room. I think he thought I was trying to break in, but actually I was just sleepy and on the wrong floor.

These stories remind me that I definitely want a big locked gate and fence surrounding my property.

These stories are the reason why I sleep with a club next to my bed! My biggest fear is someone breaking into my house while I'm asleep.

Anyway, after complaining to my dad for months about how afraid I am to live alone, he bought me THIS club.

http://www.swordsandarmor.com/images...piked_Head.jpg

This is the exact one that I have next to my bed. I feel much better now!!

Originally Posted by purly

Is this... a true story?

Absolutely. I was very young at the time and don't have any recollection of it, but my mom has no reason to lie to me about it.