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3 True Gym Horror Stories You Won’t Believe · True Horror Stories

• 0:03
  Speaker 1: I work as a maintenance guy in my local gym.
• 0:06
  Speaker 2: My job includes cleaning after the closing hours, setting the
• 0:09
  Speaker 2: equipment for the next day, and loading the lost and
• 0:12
  Speaker 2: found to maintain the integrity of the gym. Customers often
• 0:16
  Speaker 2: forget their towel, bandana, even wallets in a hurry to
• 0:20
  Speaker 2: rush back home. I get paid well and I'm never
• 0:23
  Speaker 2: influenced by greed, so even if someone leaves something expensive,
• 0:26
  Speaker 2: I notify the gym instructors so people get their things back.
• 0:30
  Speaker 2: Maybe that's why the owner trusts me, and I've been
• 0:33
  Speaker 2: here for quite some time. I know this place like
• 0:36
  Speaker 2: my own house. It's a two story building with the
• 0:39
  Speaker 2: office and reception on the ground floor and the entire
• 0:42
  Speaker 2: gym with the washrooms area on the first Once you
• 0:46
  Speaker 2: made it up the stairs, you meet with a long hallway,
• 0:49
  Speaker 2: and the end of the hallway is the big glass
• 0:52
  Speaker 2: door entry of the gym. One afternoon, my boss called
• 0:56
  Speaker 2: me to his office. He told me they're going to
• 0:58
  Speaker 2: undergo a renovation, so for the next week the gym
• 1:01
  Speaker 2: will be closed. He told me to do a one
• 1:04
  Speaker 2: last cleaning next Friday before the renovation begins. I happily agreed,
• 1:09
  Speaker 2: as it will be a week off for me too.
• 1:12
  Speaker 2: After the closing hours, I entered the gym as usual.
• 1:15
  Speaker 2: That day, it rained heavily. The entire floor was covered
• 1:19
  Speaker 2: with muddy footprints and the smell of damp walls mixed
• 1:22
  Speaker 2: with sweat. Without much ado, I got to work. I
• 1:26
  Speaker 2: was mopping the floor, humming the new dua lipa song
• 1:30
  Speaker 2: I heard when a bolt of lightning struck close by.
• 1:33
  Speaker 2: An ear numbing crack made the glass window shutter. I
• 1:37
  Speaker 2: was almost done cleaning the ground floor when the lights
• 1:40
  Speaker 2: went out. The weather was getting worse, but I had
• 1:43
  Speaker 2: to do my job, so I turned on the flashlight,
• 1:47
  Speaker 2: grabbed the cleaning supplies, and headed for the gym area. Now,
• 1:51
  Speaker 2: as soon as I stepped into the hallway, a weird
• 1:54
  Speaker 2: feeling hit me. I suddenly felt like I wasn't the
• 1:57
  Speaker 2: only one in this place. Flashes of lightning were reflecting
• 2:01
  Speaker 2: from the windows inside the gym area, illuminating the hallway
• 2:05
  Speaker 2: too because of the glass door. And in between those flashes,
• 2:09
  Speaker 2: I noticed a long stretch of muddy footprints starting from
• 2:12
  Speaker 2: the stairs leading to the glass door. Those were footprints
• 2:16
  Speaker 2: of someone walking in but not going out. A rush
• 2:20
  Speaker 2: of cold sweat ran down my spine. I thought of
• 2:23
  Speaker 2: calling out, but then decided to keep quiet if there's
• 2:26
  Speaker 2: an intruder. Just when I had started to walk closer
• 2:30
  Speaker 2: to the gym entrance, the lightning flashed again, and this
• 2:33
  Speaker 2: time I saw a head, a head peeking at me
• 2:37
  Speaker 2: from behind the glass door. I froze, heart pounding in
• 2:40
  Speaker 2: my chest, flashlight shaking slightly in my hand. The head
• 2:45
  Speaker 2: that had peeped through the glass door hadn't just popped
• 2:48
  Speaker 2: in for a second. It was there, a pale, skinny
• 2:51
  Speaker 2: face behind stringy soaked hair, watching me. His eyes were
• 2:56
  Speaker 2: wide and glassy, unmoving like he was trying to side,
• 3:00
  Speaker 2: whether to lunge or vanish. For a long second, neither
• 3:04
  Speaker 2: of us moved, and then slowly he stepped from behind
• 3:08
  Speaker 2: the door. He didn't open it, he just stood behind
• 3:11
  Speaker 2: the glass, faintly lit by the next flash of lightning.
• 3:15
  Speaker 2: He was filthy and soaked through, an oversized army jacket
• 3:20
  Speaker 2: torn at the sleeves, and boots caked in mud. His
• 3:23
  Speaker 2: arms hung lopsidedly at his sides, one twitching a little
• 3:28
  Speaker 2: right Then the lights came back. He looked up, then
• 3:31
  Speaker 2: tilted his head to the side, scratching his arms with
• 3:34
  Speaker 2: his dirty fingernails. His mouth was partially open, and I
• 3:39
  Speaker 2: could see scars all over his face.
• 3:41
  Speaker 1: The hollows around the eyes hinted that he hadn't eaten
• 3:44
  Speaker 1: in days.
• 3:45
  Speaker 2: It wasn't just his appearance, it was the way he
• 3:48
  Speaker 2: looked at me, no fear, no guilt, just staring. I
• 3:53
  Speaker 2: took a step back and raised my voice, trying to
• 3:56
  Speaker 2: sound tougher than I felt.
• 3:58
  Speaker 1: Hey, the cops are gonna be here. You better leave
• 4:01
  Speaker 1: while you can. At first, he was frozen still.
• 4:05
  Speaker 2: Then something shifted, his eyes twitched, and in a heartbeat,
• 4:09
  Speaker 2: he turned, pushed the glass door open with a creak,
• 4:12
  Speaker 2: and started sprinting towards me. I stumbled backward, holding my
• 4:17
  Speaker 2: mop handle tightly in case I had.
• 4:19
  Speaker 1: To swing it. But he didn't stop.
• 4:21
  Speaker 2: He ran past me, smelling like trash can and unwashed clothes.
• 4:26
  Speaker 2: Just as he passed, our eyes locked. There was something
• 4:30
  Speaker 2: broken in that look, not just frightening, but mad, not
• 4:34
  Speaker 2: casual madness. It was the kind of madness that sits
• 4:37
  Speaker 2: with someone until they're too far to be caught by
• 4:40
  Speaker 2: the world anymore. He never said a word. He hurried
• 4:43
  Speaker 2: down the stairs and disappeared into the storm. I stood
• 4:46
  Speaker 2: there alone shake it mopped still in hand, the hallway
• 4:50
  Speaker 2: ringing with the fading sound of boots and thunder. After
• 4:54
  Speaker 2: five minutes, when I'd calmed down, I called the owner
• 4:58
  Speaker 2: and told him everything. It had come with two cops
• 5:01
  Speaker 2: who searched the entire gym. Looks like the receptionist forgot
• 5:05
  Speaker 2: to lock the back door before leaving and the guy
• 5:08
  Speaker 2: came in from there. I worked there for two more
• 5:11
  Speaker 2: years and never saw that guy again.
• 5:13
  Speaker 1: But those two.
• 5:14
  Speaker 2: Years I went to work with a can of mace
• 5:16
  Speaker 2: and a small knife in my pocket for just in case.
• 5:25
  Speaker 2: This gym has been my go to for almost two
• 5:28
  Speaker 2: years now, and it's always been a nice and quiet
• 5:30
  Speaker 2: way to start my day.
• 5:32
  Speaker 1: I usually go in early.
• 5:34
  Speaker 2: At around six thirty am and get my work out
• 5:36
  Speaker 2: in before work, and I generally prefer to leave and
• 5:39
  Speaker 2: not have talked to anyone. Well that's how I like it.
• 5:43
  Speaker 2: Last week, I felt strange. As soon as I walked
• 5:46
  Speaker 2: through the doors. It wasn't anything overt, the lights were on,
• 5:50
  Speaker 2: music soft, the same few regulars spread out on the
• 5:54
  Speaker 2: gym floor, But as I walked towards the freeways, I
• 5:57
  Speaker 2: noticed a guy was standing near the stretching area, just
• 6:01
  Speaker 2: watching he was not stretching, not warming up, just standing there.
• 6:06
  Speaker 2: He saw me and gave me this huge, exaggerated wave
• 6:10
  Speaker 2: back like he knew me. I gave a quick and
• 6:13
  Speaker 2: confused nod back at him and looked away. Maybe he
• 6:16
  Speaker 2: thinks I'm somebody else. I popped in my headphones, started
• 6:20
  Speaker 2: my set and tried to forget about it.
• 6:23
  Speaker 1: But he wouldn't give up. He was everywhere.
• 6:26
  Speaker 2: When I changed equipment, I went to the treadmill and
• 6:29
  Speaker 2: he was next to me, but there were five other
• 6:31
  Speaker 2: empty treadmills. He waved again. I avoided his wave and
• 6:36
  Speaker 2: kept my eyes on the screen. He started jogging, but
• 6:39
  Speaker 2: he spent more time looking sideways at me than actually
• 6:42
  Speaker 2: working out. I only did half of my cardio workout
• 6:46
  Speaker 2: and decided to go to the squad rack. He followed
• 6:49
  Speaker 2: me there.
• 6:50
  Speaker 1: Of course.
• 6:51
  Speaker 2: At one point I bent down to pick up a plate,
• 6:54
  Speaker 2: and when I came back up, he was there, close,
• 6:57
  Speaker 2: too close, and smiling.
• 7:00
  Speaker 1: You got good pasture.
• 7:02
  Speaker 2: He said, loudly so I could hear through my headphones.
• 7:05
  Speaker 2: I didn't say anything. I just walked away. Then I
• 7:08
  Speaker 2: went to do some seated rose and I was trying
• 7:10
  Speaker 2: to keep my back to him. That's when I saw
• 7:13
  Speaker 2: him standing behind me in the reflecting mirror, just watching
• 7:16
  Speaker 2: me again, waving, this time blatantly, waving like he wanted
• 7:22
  Speaker 2: me to be uncomfortable. Something then happened that makes my
• 7:26
  Speaker 2: skin crawl to this day. I went into the women's
• 7:29
  Speaker 2: locker room, just for a minute to fill up my
• 7:32
  Speaker 2: water bottle at the sink.
• 7:33
  Speaker 1: No one is in there, or so I thought.
• 7:36
  Speaker 2: When I turned around, Carl was standing in the doorway,
• 7:40
  Speaker 2: half in shadow behind the lockers. He wasn't allowed in there.
• 7:44
  Speaker 2: He wasn't even trying to hide it. He had an
• 7:47
  Speaker 2: evil expression on his face, as if waiting for me
• 7:50
  Speaker 2: to turn and notice him. My heart probably stopped. I froze,
• 7:54
  Speaker 2: gripping my bottle so hard my knuckles went white.
• 7:57
  Speaker 1: I don't know how long we stood there.
• 8:00
  Speaker 2: He didn't say anything, didn't move, same creepy smile and
• 8:04
  Speaker 2: bulging eyes. I said, what the hell and stepped back,
• 8:09
  Speaker 2: squeezing by Carl and through the door. He followed me,
• 8:13
  Speaker 2: only a couple of steps behind, and casual, like nothing
• 8:17
  Speaker 2: was going down at all. That was when I walked
• 8:20
  Speaker 2: straight to the front desk. I don't know what he
• 8:22
  Speaker 2: was after. I don't want to know. I'd had enough.
• 8:26
  Speaker 2: I grabbed my towel and bag and approached Jamie, one
• 8:29
  Speaker 2: of the staff members. Being a woman, she could immediately
• 8:32
  Speaker 2: spot the trauma on my face.
• 8:34
  Speaker 1: Everything okay, she asked. There's a guy following me around
• 8:38
  Speaker 1: the gym. I said, my voice, low but firm, gray hoodie,
• 8:42
  Speaker 1: black jogger's tall. He's been hovering around me since I
• 8:46
  Speaker 1: walked in. It's creeping me out. Jamie's expression tightened. Wait
• 8:52
  Speaker 1: is that Carl? I blinked, Hey, don't know his name.
• 8:57
  Speaker 2: She glanced over my shoulder and gave a subtle nuh
• 9:00
  Speaker 2: to someone behind the counter.
• 9:02
  Speaker 1: That's Carl. He has been worn before. He's not even
• 9:06
  Speaker 1: supposed to be here during this time.
• 9:08
  Speaker 2: Slot security came a minute later, pushing through the small
• 9:11
  Speaker 2: crowd that was needed to take the guy outside.
• 9:14
  Speaker 1: I took a step back and watched, heart pounding as
• 9:18
  Speaker 1: they walked towards him. He didn't even resist, looked dumb
• 9:22
  Speaker 1: and confused, like he didn't just comprehend what was going
• 9:25
  Speaker 1: on after all the fuss, or what the problem was. Then,
• 9:29
  Speaker 1: on the way out, he turned around and locked eyes
• 9:32
  Speaker 1: with me. He smiled again, a slow, sinister smile. Not friendly,
• 9:38
  Speaker 1: not contrite just wrong. I walked out without finishing my workout.
• 9:43
  Speaker 1: I spent the rest of the day thinking about that smile,
• 9:46
  Speaker 1: that slow wave. Now he showed up.
• 9:48
  Speaker 2: From all the opposite directions like a willing participant in
• 9:52
  Speaker 2: a pre rehearsed show.
• 9:53
  Speaker 1: It all happened in one hour. One hour was enough.
• 9:58
  Speaker 2: I got to know later from Jamie that it wasn't
• 10:00
  Speaker 2: Carl's first time getting in trouble with harassing women. The
• 10:04
  Speaker 2: cops found out he was already facing some minor charges
• 10:07
  Speaker 2: for intrusion and stalking a teenager. Since then, I haven't
• 10:11
  Speaker 2: seen him, But now every time I walk into work,
• 10:15
  Speaker 2: I scan my surroundings before I ever check in. I
• 10:18
  Speaker 2: keep my keys close, and I never ever remove both headphones.
• 10:27
  Speaker 1: As a night owl, I prefer working out late.
• 10:30
  Speaker 2: The workout and slow hiss machines, slow thumps of people
• 10:34
  Speaker 2: softly running on mats helps me clear my head. It's
• 10:37
  Speaker 2: my kind of piece, So naturally, I didn't expect anything
• 10:41
  Speaker 2: out of the ordinary. When I walked into my gym
• 10:43
  Speaker 2: at nine pm that Friday, I started with weights, worked
• 10:47
  Speaker 2: through my normal circuit, and then returned to the heavy
• 10:50
  Speaker 2: bag in the back corner. That's when I noticed him, lanky, pale,
• 10:55
  Speaker 2: somewhere in his mid thirties. I had seen him around,
• 10:58
  Speaker 2: mostly standing too close perched on machines.
• 11:01
  Speaker 1: He never used an observer.
• 11:03
  Speaker 2: He slipped in quietly and made a beeline for the
• 11:06
  Speaker 2: Caffres machine, which also happened to face the heavy bag.
• 11:10
  Speaker 2: I watched him rearrange the seat and balance his phone
• 11:13
  Speaker 2: between his legs, camera pointing directly at me. I stopped
• 11:18
  Speaker 2: mid round, sweat trickling down my back. I pulled off
• 11:22
  Speaker 2: one glove and walked over.
• 11:25
  Speaker 1: Hey, are you reporting me?
• 11:27
  Speaker 2: He didn't respond. He tapped the screen of his phone,
• 11:30
  Speaker 2: shoved the device into his pocket, and sprinted across the gym.
• 11:34
  Speaker 2: I watched him running away upstairs. What should I do?
• 11:38
  Speaker 2: Go to the front desk? What do I have? My
• 11:41
  Speaker 2: skin was still crawling from his stair when I left
• 11:44
  Speaker 2: my session after one hour, I walked outside into sharp,
• 11:48
  Speaker 2: still air.
• 11:49
  Speaker 1: I thought I was done with him. Wrong.
• 11:52
  Speaker 2: There he was standing at the curb, looking like he
• 11:55
  Speaker 2: was waiting for a cab and waiting for me. I
• 11:59
  Speaker 2: didn't look at him. I just kept walking. But after
• 12:02
  Speaker 2: a few blocks I heard footsteps behind me. I turned
• 12:06
  Speaker 2: around and he was still there. I quickened my pace.
• 12:10
  Speaker 2: He picked up his pace. I cut across two blocks
• 12:13
  Speaker 2: and ducked into a flower shop, the only store still open.
• 12:17
  Speaker 2: I put my head down behind a row of peonies
• 12:19
  Speaker 2: and wrapped roses and tried to slow my breathing. He
• 12:23
  Speaker 2: walked inside. He paused at the door, checking the place out.
• 12:27
  Speaker 2: He took a couple of steps toward the counter, like
• 12:30
  Speaker 2: he was thinking about just browsing. I slipped up quickly,
• 12:34
  Speaker 2: heart racing. It didn't stop until I got back to
• 12:37
  Speaker 2: my apartment. I was sitting on the couch in sweaty clothes,
• 12:41
  Speaker 2: catching my breath. I should have called somebody, the police,
• 12:45
  Speaker 2: the gym, but what would I say. Then I realized
• 12:49
  Speaker 2: I have left my wallet and the locker my IDs
• 12:52
  Speaker 2: in it.
• 12:53
  Speaker 1: I knew I had to go back to get it.
• 12:55
  Speaker 1: I took some pepper spray, this time for just in case.
• 12:58
  Speaker 1: The gym was almost empty. I scanned the gym again.
• 13:02
  Speaker 1: I didn't see him. I let out a deep breath
• 13:05
  Speaker 1: and headed towards the lockers. A breath of relief washed
• 13:08
  Speaker 1: over me. Once I found my wallet just where I
• 13:10
  Speaker 1: kept it. I was glad he didn't try to steal it,
• 13:13
  Speaker 1: because identity theft could have created more troubles for me,
• 13:17
  Speaker 1: and people like him are capable of all the awful things.
• 13:21
  Speaker 1: I trudged back through the weight room. You never know,
• 13:24
  Speaker 1: and that's when I saw him again, this time reflected
• 13:28
  Speaker 1: in the mirror right behind me. He smiled.
• 13:31
  Speaker 2: Hey, he said, again, you work out a lot. I
• 13:35
  Speaker 2: didn't say anything. I just kept my angry face on.
• 13:38
  Speaker 2: It was Christian, the guy I hated from last week,
• 13:42
  Speaker 2: and he couldn't tell.
• 13:43
  Speaker 1: I was annoyed. You're intense. I like that.
• 13:47
  Speaker 2: Getting scared will give him power, So I kept my
• 13:49
  Speaker 2: voice loud and clear.
• 13:51
  Speaker 1: Why are you following me? His smile was stuck on
• 13:55
  Speaker 1: his face. I'm not. We just keep bending up in
• 13:58
  Speaker 1: the same place. Isn't that My heart was pounding. No,
• 14:03
  Speaker 1: nothing about stalking is magical.
• 14:06
  Speaker 2: He tilted his head. Pretty girls like you live for
• 14:09
  Speaker 2: this kind of attention, right. I was shocked to hear
• 14:13
  Speaker 2: how delusional this guy was. I clenched my keys between
• 14:16
  Speaker 2: my fingers like claws.
• 14:18
  Speaker 1: Back off. He stared for a moment with blank eyes.
• 14:23
  Speaker 2: Okay, but I'll see you around, Mabel, and he turned
• 14:27
  Speaker 2: and walked out like it was just another night.
• 14:30
  Speaker 1: I felt frozen. How did he know my name? That
• 14:33
  Speaker 1: was it.
• 14:34
  Speaker 2: I marched to the front desk, canceled my membership, and
• 14:37
  Speaker 2: walked out without looking back. By midnight, I had signed
• 14:41
  Speaker 2: up at a different gym across town, only during the day, crowded,
• 14:45
  Speaker 2: well lit, safe.
• 14:47
  Speaker 1: Some people would say, speak up, report him, don't be
• 14:51
  Speaker 1: a victim.
• 14:52
  Speaker 2: That those people are not walking home alone at night.
• 14:56
  Speaker 2: Those people have not been followed, watched, or filmed. So yes,
• 15:01
  Speaker 2: I did what I had to do. I survived. And
• 15:04
  Speaker 2: if you're reading this, be careful watch your back because
• 15:08
  Speaker 2: creeps do not always hide. Sometimes they smile.