Before I begin I’d like to start by saying: that this is a personal story and that I am a skeptic and I don’t believe in supernatural beings or anything related to the subject. I just enjoy the creative stories that come out of such beliefs. 

Several years ago I was working part-time, that was when my first encounter with the “Shadowed Figure” occurred. I was walking down the street, listening to music when suddenly in front of me stood a tall shadowed figure. I waved and called out to it, then blinked. In the half-second, my eyes were closed the shadowed figure had vanished. I ignored it went about my day. I never expected to see the figure again.

A few months after the sighting I was in the car with my brother driving down the road of our small town. As we pulled up to a stoplight I saw what looked like a large hand, four times the larger than a normal man’s hand reach out from behind a hydro pole and stretch out to point at me. Then my brother called my name, making me turn my head away from the eerie sight. I turned back to see the hand and arm were gone.

I had several more encounters over the next year and a half. I would see things out of the corner of my eye, or a flicker of movement coming from a spot with no moving objects. I believed that I was just seeing things and that it was just my eyes playing tricks on me. Still, the figure followed me. It felt like with each sighting it inched closer to me, slowly reaching out towards me. It was around this point that I had decided that I’d had enough. I had a friend who was more spiritual so, I explained my situation and asked for their advice on what I should do. They offered the idea that it was likely to be a loved one reaching out to me, checking up on me. I would’ve liked that to be true, but unfortunately, the feeling I had in the pit of my stomach disagreed with their explanation. The second piece of advice they offered was that I should tell it to leave me alone and that if it made me uncomfortable then confronting it would resolve the situation. I did as they suggested and to my surprise, it worked… for about two years. 

After I had confronted the shadowed figure that had haunted me, it decided to creep back into my memory. I had honestly forgotten any of the events until midday in the summer of 2019 when everything came flooding back. I had an immediate feeling of discomfort in my stomach, followed by an urge to look up. Despite my best efforts, I looked up and behind the head of my coworker, I saw the shadow come to form before turning into a woman. She had long brown hair, a beige dress, closed eyes and a devilish grin. Once again, I blinked and she was gone. I looked around but there was no one in the empty parking lot except for my coworker and myself. That was also the closest I had ever seen the figure before, and it left me feeling unsettled.

That was two months ago and it was the last time I saw the figure. I fear the day I see it again, as I’m not sure how much closer to me it can get before it turns into something more.

Andy Tworek is a second-year professional writing student with a passion for all things scary, abnormal and strange. Despite being a skeptic of most conspiracies and paranormal phenomena, his curiosity of the unexplained always outweighs his disbelief. Andy is an avid fan of fictional horror content. While he may not be the most investigative when it comes to real-life conspiracies, you can always be sure he’ll find the truth behind your favourite fictional monsters.