This is downright one of the creepiest incidents that has ever happened to me. It happened around Christmas — and I get it, everyone loves Christmas. It’s supposed to be the most joyful time of the year, whatever. I used to love it too… until what happened. Now I’m lucky if I can make it through that time of year without having nightmares.
It all happened a couple of years ago when I was in high school. It was the last day of school before winter break. Most of my friends were skipping school that day to go out and have some big snowball fight in the park. I wanted to skip class too, but I didn’t want to get in trouble. My parents were very strict.
I dreaded going to school that day though — because I had to walk there. It wasn’t the farthest walk, so it didn’t make much sense for me to take the school bus. It was still at least a five-minute walk, and it was freezing outside at that time of year. My parents couldn’t drive me to school because our family only owned one car, and my mom had to take it to work early every morning. My dad didn’t have the option to drive me even if he wanted to.
So, I got ready for class that day and reluctantly started to walk to school. It was early, so the sun hadn’t fully risen yet. It was still a bit dark outside — which of course only made it colder. Plus, it was snowing that day. We had been having a bit of a blizzard. The streets were completely empty as I walked down them. All I could think about was how pointless the last day of school was going to be.
That’s when I saw a man dressed as Santa standing ahead of me. He was an older guy with a beard and he had the red suit and everything. He was holding a large bag of candy. I thought it was pretty strange that he would be outside so early, especially since it was snowing and cold. But I figured — there are a lot of Christmas crazies out there.
So, I continued to walk toward him. As I got closer, his face started to creep me out. He definitely didn’t look like he should be wearing a Santa costume. I couldn’t fully say what it was… he just looked freaky — and off.
I didn’t want to have to walk past him, but I couldn’t really cross the street because cars were coming here and there. It looked like the other side of the sidewalk was piled with snow anyway. I was stuck where I was. I decided to continue walking and just mind my own business.
When I got closer to the guy, I tried to just keep my head down and walk around him. I was almost past him when he suddenly held out the bag of candy and said, “Would you like a piece of candy?”
I gestured with my hands — no, politely declining his offer. Then I continued walking away as fast as I could. I didn’t know why, but something about this Santa guy made me feel very uneasy.
I was happy to be away from him — but as I walked, I began to hear footsteps behind me. I didn’t want to turn around because I was scared as hell. I picked up the pace and tried to speed-walk a bit. But the footsteps behind me got faster as well.
I was sh*tting bricks. I was 95% sure that it had to be Santa following me. I didn’t know what to do. Part of me just wanted to take off running, but I didn’t know if that would just set him off. There didn’t seem to be any good options.
I hoped and prayed for a car to drive by at that moment. But of course… the roads were completely deserted. There was no one around to see what would happen. It was a scary, horrifying feeling — knowing that whoever was behind me could literally attack me without any bystanders getting in the way.
At this point, I deeply regretted not skipping school like everyone else. My heart was pounding in my chest, but I tried to appear calm. I didn’t want him to know that I was onto him. I thought that if I could just get to school, then I’d be safe.
The whole time, I kept hearing footsteps behind me. They didn’t pause for a moment. Finally, I couldn’t take it anymore. I had to know if it was him. I nervously turned my head to look behind me — and that’s when I saw the same Santa standing right behind me… smiling like a creep.
“You should have taken the candy,” the man said — and then charged at me with full force.
I tried to get away, but he was too quick. He grabbed me with both arms and lifted me in the air, trying to drag me away. I kicked and screamed as loud as I could, but he was too strong.
“Naughty girls don’t get candy… just be a good girl so I can put you on the nice list,” he growled.
Finally, I was somehow able to break loose — and I started running to the school. I sprinted as hard as I could, but I could still hear the Santa’s footsteps behind me. I don’t know how I managed, but I made it to school without him grabbing ahold of me again.
I burst through the front doors and alerted the secretary at the front office. The school eventually called the cops.
The police later found the guy in a bus. He was still wearing the same Santa costume. He was arrested shortly after. The cops never found out why he targeted me, but they suspected that he’d been watching me for a while to learn my route to school.
I was completely traumatized. My parents have since made me take the bus to school every day. They’re too afraid that the man will return.
It’s hard for me to even see a guy in a Santa costume anymore without picturing that man’s face. I’m just scared as hell of being attacked again.
The story was inspired by a horrifying incident regarding an attempted kidnapping that occurred in 2009 in Parma, Ohio. The culprit was a 46-year-old man named Anthony Russo, who was dressed up in a red Santa Claus suit and carrying a box of candy canes and a unicycle decorated with bows, bells, and a Santa gift bag.
He jumped out of some bushes and began following a young female teen, whom he tried to grab several times. The girl got away and called police from a nearby convenience store. Russo was later found on a Cleveland bus, still in full costume — and immediately arrested. He was jailed and charged accordingly.
RELATED POSTS
View all
