John Carpenter once said:
“To make Michael Myers frightening, I had him walk like a man, not a monster.”
Dear Reader,
It’s That One Time Thursday and I’m about to throw down the spookiest story for today’s segment: Peeping Toms! Ever heard of it before? Well here’s the definition of one if you haven't:
Creepy and messed up right?? Well, I’m going to tell you about that one time I had one, so shut your windows and close your blinds because you won’t want to look out one after I’m done telling you this!
I believe it was the summer of 8th grade going into my freshman year of high school. My room was on the bottom floor with a window facing a narrow walkway to my backyard. One night while I was lying in bed, binge-watching 90210, I heard a knock on my window. My first thought was that it was my backyard neighbor trying to get into the back, so I pulled the blinds and to my surprise, it was an older man with a mustache and buggy looking eyes peering right back at me. I had never seen this man in my life & just assumed that he was a friend or family member of those who lived in the back. He beckoned me with a finger to come outside, which I usually did for the neighbors but since I hadn’t seen him before, I ignored it, closed the window, texted my mother, and when she came in to check...he was already gone. After that, I completely forgot about it & just brushed it off as something strange...until I started noticing the bricks and crates lined up outside my window. We assumed these were left to prop open the gate or that they were left behind from our neighbors but as I stood on one, I noticed I could almost see right into my room. Again, I brushed it off and didn’t think anything of it until the next strange thing occurred.
Back then I was a dancer and created my own choreography, but without a mirror this task can be a little challenging; therefore, I would often use my window to see my reflection or shadow so that I would be able to follow my movements. This particular night I had been practicing with my shadow for some time with my sheer pink and blue curtains covering the window. At one point I thought my shadow didn’t belong to me, so I moved to the left and it moved with me, I moved to the right and it moved with me, and the third time I moved it didn’t move with me. I immediately ran out to my father and let him know that someone was outside my window. This is the shit that happens in horror movies because let me tell you that no one believed me. It took him a couple of minutes to get up, get his shoes on, and walk outside. There was no one outside my window and I was starting to think I had gone crazy or watched too many scary movies…
About a week later my brother ran into my room, “Dad heard something outside, he went to go check what it was.” And I can’t even fill you in on this part because I’m not even sure I remember what happened. But this is how my father remembers it. He had heard something coming from the side of our house and wondered if I had actually been telling the truth. He walked over to the side of the building & saw a man, probably around the age of 40, at least 6 ft, peering into my window. It ended in a chase, a police investigation, and never finding out who watched me for god knows how long.
The sheer curtains came down and were replaced by opaque black ones. Sticks were jammed into the windows and door so they couldn’t be opened from the outside. Alarm systems were put on every window and door. I had nightmares for weeks, sometimes even random ones when years had passed. For years, I couldn’t look out my window, I didn’t even want to open it. I checked under my bed even though I knew no one could fit. I checked in my closet, not for the boogeyman, but for a man that walks our very own streets with no repercussions for what he did. You see this is why women are always hyper-aware wherever they go. They hold their 911 pre-dialed phones close to them, they have fake conversations in Ubers or when they walk somewhere dark, they insist men walk in front of them, they pee in groups, they can’t walk or run late at night, they grip their keys in between their fingers, they purchase disguised pepper spray so no one knows what it is, they have a routine for getting in their cars late at night. 3 years ago I finally put regular curtains back but I still fear looking out my window late at night & every once in a while that nightmare will come back.
Sincerely,
K