"That's when I heard it - the unmistakable sound of heavy footsteps tramping through the underbrush, rapidly getting closer. My heart pounded - it sounded like at least 30 footfalls."
I received the following account:
"When I was 16, my life changed forever. I had broken my back in a bad accident and was bedridden for months, unable to move. The pain was excruciating, but the psychological toll was even worse - being trapped in a hospital bed, staring at the same four walls day after day. But I was determined to recover and get my life back.
As soon as the doctors cleared me, I decided I needed to get out into nature to truly heal my mind and body. My mum agreed that a camping trip down in the beautiful Devon countryside might be just what I needed. She dropped me off at a remote forested area with my tent, some supplies, and a portable charger to keep my phone powered up.
I had scoped out what looked like the perfect isolated spot to set up camp. Sure, it seemed to be on private land, but it was getting late and I didn't want to risk camping too close to a public area. I quickly pitched the tent as darkness fell, cracked open a cider, and fired up YouTube on my phone as I settled in to relax.
That's when things took a turn for the sinister. I noticed my phone battery was draining faster than it should, even while charging. Strange, but I tried not to think too much of it. That's when I heard it - the unmistakable sound of heavy footsteps tramping through the underbrush, rapidly getting closer. My heart pounded - it sounded like at least 30 footfalls. Was it an aggressive hiker? Or worse, a property owner with a shotgun?
In a panic, I unzipped the tent and stuck my hands up, preparing to face whoever was out there. But there was...nothing. Just the eerie silence of the forest. The footsteps that had been nearly on top of me just seconds before simply faded into an unnatural nothingness.
A deep sense of dread washed over me at that moment. Something was horribly wrong here. I turned my head slowly, my gut telling me I wasn't alone. And that's when I saw it - barely 20 feet away, unmoving yet undoubtedly alive. A massive, skeletal beast around 5 feet tall, vaguely resembling a hairless, emaciated dog. Its blank face was frozen in a permanent bestial snarl, lips pulled back to expose rows of jagged teeth.
I've never felt such primal, wordless terror. Fight or flight didn't even enter into it - I instinctively scrambled backward into the tent and zipped it up, curling into a tight ball on the floor. My mind had simply shut down, overloaded by the sight of that thing.
After who knows how long, I somehow thought to check my phone in desperation. It was completely drained, so I frantically swapped in the portable charger. An agonizing 50 minutes crawled by before it finally turned back on with just 3% battery remaining.
With shaking hands, I managed to text my mum a frantic plea for help, dropping my location pin and a pre-arranged code phrase for an emergency extraction. The phone died again before she could respond. All I could do was hunker down in my sleeping bag and try not to imagine what sort of ungodly abomination was lurking just outside those thin nylon walls.
The next few hours passed like a waking nightmare. Every minor sound - a snapping twig, a rustling bush - sent panicked visions through my mind of that towering, bony creature closing in for the kill.
Finally, I heard the blessed rumble of an engine in the distance. Risking a peek outside, I nearly collapsed with relief at the sight of my mum's car pulling up. I didn't even wait for the code response - I just grabbed my bag and sprinted straight for her open arms, leaving the tent and all my other belongings behind without a second thought.
To this day, I have no rational explanation for what I encountered out in those woods. Maybe it was a delirious hallucination or vivid waking dream brought on by stress and fatigue. Maybe it was just an unfortunate trick of light and shadow playing on my already-frayed nerves. All I know is that I've never felt such abject, primal terror before or since. My body was robbed of all ability for rational thought or action - only the most básic instincts for self-preservation remained.
I'm not generally someone who believes in the supernatural. But that day in Devon will eternally be burned into my psyche as an omen - a warning from the universe that some places are better left undisturbed by human trespassers. If I had pressed on with my ill-fated camping excursion, I shudder to think what other shadowed monstrosities might have surfaced from the murky depths of that ancient woodland." S
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PHANTOMS & MONSTERS VIDEO LIBRARY
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