The Man at the bottom of the Stairs

Nightfall Crypt

Growing up, she always sensed things others didn't—but one night, her instincts were proven correct, a testament to the power of intuition. A man in a red and white striped shirt appeared in the basement, just standing there. What followed wasn't violent… but it was real. And her dog confirmed it. This is a true story about the moment everything changed—and the room her family still calls "Freddy Krueger's Room."

Transcript

00:00We had a second fridge in the garage.

00:02It was the kind stocked with sodas, sports drinks, and leftovers my mom swore we'd finish, but never did.

00:10The type of fridge you visit out of habit, late night cravings, summer afternoons, or boredom.

00:18That day was nothing special.

00:21I wasn't expecting anything out of the ordinary.

00:25But the second I stepped into the garage, everything changed.

00:30There's this weird thing that happens when you sense danger before your brain catches up, like your skin knows before your eyes do.

00:38The air felt electric, cold, heavy.

00:43The hairs on my neck prickled like static.

00:46I froze.

00:48My eyes drifted toward the basement stairs.

00:51They were in the far right corner, just behind the fridge, descending into shadow.

00:56That bulb down there hadn't worked in months, so the stairs were a dusky tunnel, almost black.

01:04And that's when I saw him.

01:07Just for a second.

01:09It's clear as day.

01:10A man standing three steps from the bottom, red and white striped shirt, still as stone.

01:19He didn't move.

01:21They didn't speak.

01:22They just stared straight up at me.

01:27My breath caught in my throat.

01:30I didn't scream right away.

01:32I couldn't.

01:34My brain was trying to make sense of it.

01:37Was it a mannequin?

01:39A trick of light?

01:41Was someone messing with me?

01:42But there was nothing playful in the way he stood there.

01:47He wasn't hiding.

01:49He wanted me to see him.

01:52Then, instinct kicked in.

01:55I screamed and ran inside, slamming the door behind me so hard the glass panel rattled.

02:01My mom came rushing in, already asking what happened.

02:04I told her, voice shaking, about the man.

02:09About the shirt.

02:11About the way he looked at me without looking at me, like he already knew me.

02:15She didn't laugh.

02:17She didn't even hesitate.

02:20Instead, she looked at our golden retriever, who had followed me to the door, and said,

02:26Go see.

02:27She opened it, and he darted toward the stairs, like he understood.

02:31I waited.

02:34Five seconds.

02:35Ten.

02:36Then.

02:38A yelp.

02:40Not a bark.

02:41Not a growl.

02:43A short, sharp cry that ended too quickly.

02:48Then silence.

02:50My mom turned pale.

02:52She grabbed her phone and called my grandpa, who lived a few houses down.

02:56He arrived minutes later, shotgun in hand.

02:59No questions.

03:00Just action.

03:02That was his way.

03:04He went down there alone, slow and steady.

03:07We heard his footsteps descend the wooden stairs.

03:11One creak, then another.

03:14It was agonizing.

03:17Minutes passed.

03:18Then, more minutes.

03:21Finally, he called out.

03:24Nobody's here.

03:25But something had changed.

03:29When he reached the far room, the one furthest from the stairs, the coldest room in the whole

03:34house, he stopped talking.

03:36My mom called to him.

03:37My mom called to him.

03:39No answer.

03:41Then he came back up slowly, holding the dog by the collar.

03:45He was just sitting there, Grandpa said.

03:49He was just sitting there, Grandpa said.

03:49Didn't move.

03:51They didn't bark.

03:52Just staring at the wall.

03:54That wall.

03:55That wall.

03:56That room.

03:58I never liked it before.

04:01But after that day, I avoided it altogether.

04:05The rest of the basement got used again.

04:08We stored old holiday decorations, laundry baskets, and even my bike down there during

04:13the winter.

04:14But that room?

04:16It became a running joke in the family.

04:19Freddy Krueger's room.

04:22My mom started calling it that because of the striped shirt.

04:26We'd laugh about it.

04:27Kind of.

04:29But we never stepped inside again.

04:32Even years later, after our dog passed, he made it to 17, we still felt something there.

04:38If I had to grab something near the stairs, I'd find myself glancing toward the darkness

04:44and expecting movement.

04:46Half hoping to see nothing.

04:48Half dreading that, I might.

04:51Sometimes, when we had guests, I'd mention it.

04:55Most would laugh.

04:56Some wouldn't.

04:58A few told their own stories.

05:00Things they'd seen as kids.

05:02Feelings they couldn't explain.

05:03One even said he remembered seeing someone in our garage once, years ago, just before I

05:09had.

05:11But I never knew if he was being serious or just playing along.

05:16Here's the thing.

05:18No one got hurt.

05:20No doors were slamming shut on their own.

05:22No apparitions in the mirror.

05:24No demonic voices whispering in the dark.

05:27But I saw a man.

05:28And that dog, who never barked, never yelped, never made a sound, he felt it too.

05:39He reacted.

05:41That's what makes it real.

05:44Not the fear.

05:46Not the image burned into my brain.

05:49But the fact that I wasn't alone.

05:52That basement still exists, although we no longer live there.

05:56Sometimes, I wonder if anyone else has seen him.

06:01Suppose he's still standing there, halfway in shadow, waiting.

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