Hidebehind

[00:00:00] Foreigning. I'm Ben and welcome to the show where you and I gather around this campfire to hear some of our fellow campers scariest experiences. Whether you're a new or returning one, I'm glad you're here. [00:00:17] Tonight we will hear a story submitted by a camper named Caleb who had a terrifying encounter in the woods of northern Wisconsin with a creature called a hide behind. [00:00:28] It's one of those bits of old American folklore that feels too strange to be remembered until something reminds you why it existed in the first place. [00:00:40] Now, without further ado, do you want to hear a ghost story? [00:00:46] I didn't know what a hide behind was until last fall. I mean, I'd heard the name once, maybe twice, in a Reddit thread or some weird creatures of folklore book I flipped through in middle school, but it never really stuck. [00:01:02] Probably because it sounds more silly than scary. [00:01:05] Like a name a kid would give a monster that never shows itself. [00:01:09] But now I know better. I know the real and worse than anything I've even seen. [00:01:18] Because you don't ever really see them. [00:01:20] Not the way you want to. [00:01:22] Not in time. [00:01:24] Let me back up a bit. [00:01:26] This happened in October. Fitting, I know. [00:01:30] My girlfriend Claire and I were doing a week long road trip through the upper Midwest. [00:01:36] Kind of a last minute adventure before winter settled in. [00:01:39] The idea was to hit a few smaller towns, hike a little, and spend at least one night camping deep in the woods away from all the light pollution. [00:01:49] We picked Chekwameguan Nicollet National Forest in Wisconsin. [00:01:54] Massive stretch of pines, maple and birch. [00:01:58] The kind of quiet that gets under your skin. [00:02:01] It's beautiful up there in the fall. All the golden fire, red leaves, crisp air, and trails that feel untouched by humans. [00:02:11] We found a primitive campsite off a service road that barely showed up on Google maps. No water, no power. [00:02:19] Just a flat patch near the edge of a ravine and a ring of stones for a fire. [00:02:24] It was perfect. [00:02:26] The first strange thing happened before we even finished setting up. [00:02:30] I'd gone maybe 30 yards into the woods to find kindling. [00:02:34] Not too deep, just over a little ridge and near a stand of tall spruce trees. I was kneeling, gathering sticks when I heard this snap, like someone was just stepping on a branch behind me. [00:02:48] I turned, but nothing. No one was there. And I mean nothing. Not a squirrel, not a breeze. [00:02:56] Just that thick silence you only get deep in the woods. [00:03:02] I chalked it up to nerves. [00:03:03] I've always had a vivid imagination, especially in the woods. [00:03:08] I brought the sticks back, joked with Claire that I felt like I was being watched. [00:03:13] She laughed, Said it was probably just a deer. But I remember she didn't laugh long. Not like she usually does. [00:03:21] That night we made a fire, ate way too many marshmallows, told some spooky stories under one of those endless night skies. [00:03:30] Every now and then we'd hear a noise in the trees. A rustle, a thud. But again, it's the woods. Those noises just happen. [00:03:39] We crawled into our tent around 11. [00:03:41] Sometime after midnight. I woke up to the sound of something moving outside the tent. [00:03:49] Slow, careful steps in the leaves. And they weren't circling the tent. They were staying in one spot. Like someone was just standing there, shifting weight from one foot to the other. [00:04:03] I held my breath and listened. [00:04:05] I could feel Claire breathing beside me, still asleep. [00:04:09] And then there was this soft scraping sound, like someone's nails running along the side of the tent. [00:04:16] I sat up, heart pounding. [00:04:20] And it stopped. [00:04:21] I waited. [00:04:22] Nothing. No voice. No laughter. [00:04:26] Just the wind whispering through the trees. [00:04:29] I didn't wake Clara. I told myself it had to be an animal, maybe a raccoon brushing against the fabric. [00:04:37] I thought I was being paranoid. [00:04:39] But the next morning I stepped outside and checked the side of the tent. There were no claw marks, but every pine needle, a leaf in a six foot radius had been brushed away from the side of the tent. [00:04:54] Like someone had stood there moving them all night. [00:04:59] Over breakfast, Clara seemed off. I asked if she'd slept okay, but she hesitated before saying anything. [00:05:07] She had a weird dream. Something about someone whispering her name in the dark. [00:05:12] She didn't want to stay another night, but I convinced her. [00:05:15] I really wish I hadn't. [00:05:17] The afternoon, we hiked a trail that looped around a small lake. It was beautiful, cold and totally empty. [00:05:24] Not a single other camper the whole time. [00:05:27] We only passed one other old hunter heading in the other direction, wearing his orange vest and all. [00:05:34] He looked at us funny when we said we were camped. Told us to be careful, especially if we heard anything we couldn't see. [00:05:43] We laughed it off until Claire asked what he meant. He just shook his head and said, sometimes the trees aren't always empty up here, even when they look like it. [00:05:53] That night was colder. [00:05:55] No fire, as there was a burn advisory and we were already pushing our luck. [00:06:01] So we went to bed early. I woke up again in the middle of the night, around 2am but this time Clara was gone. [00:06:08] The zipper on the tent was open just a few inches. [00:06:11] I panicked. Scrambled out with a flashlight, shouting her name. [00:06:15] The light barely cut through the trees. [00:06:18] Everything looked wrong. [00:06:20] Twisted shadows. Branches that didn't sit quite still. [00:06:24] I called again. [00:06:26] No answer. [00:06:27] Only the echo when I heard her voice. [00:06:31] Caleb. But it was behind me. [00:06:34] Even though I'd been facing the tent, she couldn't have passed me. I spun around, but she wasn't there. [00:06:42] Caleb. I heard it again. [00:06:45] Closer, but it was from a different direction. Caleb. And again. [00:06:49] I swear on my life, Caleb. It was all her voice. [00:06:54] Just a little slow, a little too smooth. Like someone repeating a sound they didn't fully understand. [00:07:02] I froze. [00:07:03] And that's when I felt it. [00:07:05] Not heard. [00:07:07] Felt. [00:07:08] There was a pressure on my eyes. [00:07:11] Not from far away. [00:07:13] From behind the nearest tree. 10ft away, maybe less. [00:07:16] But every time I moved, it shifted. [00:07:20] Always behind something, always just out of sight. [00:07:24] Caleb. [00:07:25] Caleb. [00:07:26] Caleb. [00:07:28] Coming from all directions. And every time I looked, it was as if it just peeked behind a tree. Sometimes the trees were even too impossibly small for anything to hide behind. [00:07:39] And that's the moment it hit me. [00:07:41] That's what this was. [00:07:43] A hide behind. [00:07:45] I don't know quite how I knew, but I just knew. [00:07:50] Waits behind the trees. It mimics. It follows. [00:07:54] You never see it unless it wants you to. [00:07:58] I backed towards the tent, not daring to run. [00:08:01] Every time I blinked, I felt it closing the distance. [00:08:05] I got into the tent, zipped it shut and looked over. Clara was inside, still sleeping. [00:08:12] I stayed up the rest of the night staring out the door. Staring at the tent door. Waiting for this. [00:08:19] I hide behind shadow to fall across the fabric. But it never did. [00:08:25] When Clara woke up, we left. That was around first light. [00:08:29] It's been months now. I've never gone back. [00:08:33] Clara doesn't even really remember it. Says I was probably dreaming. [00:08:37] But I've been doing my research. [00:08:39] I've been reading. [00:08:41] There are stories like mine, going back to the 1800s from all regions of the world. [00:08:46] All describing something that hides behind trees. [00:08:50] That wait until you are alone. That mimic voices. [00:08:54] And that takes people. [00:08:57] Sometimes the people are never found. [00:08:59] Sometimes they are returned. Confused. [00:09:01] Different. [00:09:03] All I can tell you is if you're in the woods and you hear someone you know call out your name from somewhere that you can't see, run away. [00:09:14] Thank you, Caleb, for allowing me to share your story. [00:09:17] Honestly, if I heard my name being called from the woods at 2 o' clock in the morning, I am sprinting to my car, leaving my tent there and all. [00:09:26] Well, maybe I'd go back for my girlfriend. [00:09:29] But I would definitely let the hide behinds have that campsite and all of my camping gear. [00:09:34] With that, I have no show announcements this week, but if you'd like a shout out at the end of an episode or access to our monthly bonus episodes, head over to patreon.com do you want to hear Ghost Story as always, I'm just glad to have you all as campers on this journey. So please keep sharing the show with anyone you think might like these stories or someone you're just trying to scare. If you're enjoying the show, please leave a review. I would love to hear from you. Until next time.