u/Good-Ease-4040

So, I've told you all about my experience in 87', where me and my three friends were out camping, and once we were ready to sleep, drunk and giggly, I was met with this incredible silence in the woods. Afterward, I saw and heard something in the woods, which I can only remember and describe as a deer, with several legs, walking in a very strange way.

All of this is foggy, and from a drunken source, it's hard to believe. What gives this story some valid defense though, is how one of my friends "David" also saw something that night. I saw him, terrified, in his sleeping bag, but we never managed to talk about it. Until now.

In the light of me telling you about this experience I've kept in the back of my head for all these years, I got a lot of response and attraction. Thank you for that! I honestly didn't want this to "blow up" but rather wanted some answers. After telling you all, I got confident enough to reach out to David and ask him about the situation. Me and David still talk to this day, as we also are in somewhat the same line of work, so we keep up communication regularly.

With his permission, I can recite what he told me to you all, if you're interested:

David's experience:

"I also heard the "deer-man-sounds", but way before we went to bed. I had been hearing it now and then since we got to Sunset Lake, from the evening all the way to the night. I can't remember what I saw that well, but I remember it scaring me more than anything had at that point in my life. I think it was about a dozen ravens gathered in the woods, standing on a tree branch, completely identical. It was like a painting, but very unnaturally perfect. All sitting upright, facing the same way. And beneath those, is what I thought was a face in the darkness. That's what really got me freaked out. Just an average face, but a face still. There was nothing more to it though, and I didn't see any deer with several legs or something."

Make of this how you want. I know it's very strange and I feel crazy just writing this on my PC, but maybe some of you have some answers. I'll keep you updated if I hear/know anything more. I know there was something off with those woods at least. Maybe predatorial. For reference, now I live in Oregon, so quite a while away from Wilkeson where I grew up. But I wouldn't be opposed to going back there again, maybe snap some photo's of the area we camped on

Warning. I don't want to share this, but I think I have to.

Hey. I have to give you all some background info. I've honestly been so fed up with thinking about this incident several nights, once a year, and my nephew recommended reddit, so I'm trying it out. Don't know if this is the right place to post it, but I'll try my luck.

I won't say my name, but I was born in 68', Wilkeson, Washington. It's such a small town that everyone knew each other. If one story got out, the neighbor would be telling the other neighbor the day after. I think we were about 300 - 400 people living there, growing up.

Also, fair warning, I DON'T believe in ghosts, paranormal sightings, or that sort. My mom was very religious, but my dad was a science teacher, strange match, I know, but I was told to believe in what I wanted to, which was nature. And I've stayed that way ever since.

Again, I'm not really one to share these stories. But if you've experienced something similar, especially in the woods around Wilkeson or in the town itself, then please give me some details about your experience. I'm sick of carrying this on my shoulders, and although I can be "shy" online, I just need to bite into the sour apple.

What I experienced.

It was a fall day in 87, I had just turned 19, and me and my three closest friends, let's call them "Parker", "John" and "David" for their personal sake, had gone camping to celebrate my birthday. It was REALLY just an excuse to drink, as "John" had almost free access to his father's liquor cabinet.

Anyway, we camped in the area around Sunset Lake, about 2 miles away from town. We were going to sleep there for the night, pack up, and go home early morning. We hung around, tried to fish in the lake, listened to the radio, I can still remember Motley Crue and Tears for Fears being played that night, and started drinking booze before the night quickly fell upon us. Then we decided to head to bed, drunk, and giggly, and that's as much as I remember from my friends being awake. But I still was.

That is when things started to become strange. I was used to the town being quiet, so silence wasn't a big issue for me, but it became STRANGELY quiet. In the middle of the woods. I'm talking, the quietest I've ever experienced my surroundings being. No sound of wind, no trees swaying, no noises from the lake, nothing. I felt so confused, but at the time, I was quite drunk, so I just smirked at it.

The silence kept going. It felt like it went for half an hour or so, but it probably only lasted 5 minutes. That's when I started being quite unsettled. I opened my eyes, sat up, but saw and heard nothing. I lay back down, and the next thing I hear is a noise, but not what I wanted to hear. It was like: A deer, in pain, but human-made. If you've ever heard a deer cry out, it can sound quite eerie, but this was even stranger, as if a man tried to sound like a deer.

At this point, I freaked out. This was not cool, and even if it just was some kind of animal, it could worst case be something primal and vicious. I wake up again, look over at the boys, and they're all asleep. So I sit up for a while, staring into that black, empty, nothingness. I'm not joking it was PITCH black. COMPLETELY silent. Broken by that faint deer-man-sound coming from half a mile away. Very echoey, I remember.

I went back to sleep, or tried to at least, and the sounds of nature around us started crawling back, which was incredibly refreshing. One of the most "warm" feelings I've had in my entire youth, hearing the life around me getting back to me in that darkness.

Then I nearly fall asleep, and the usual noise around me, crickets even, is broken again, by that same deer sound, but now it is much, much closer. It sounded like 3 stone-throws away.

Keep in mind, we had no phones or that sort of technology like we have today, only a sort of "portable radio boombox" that Parker brought. We couldn't call anyone or anything if things went south, so I just had to clear my mind, but I couldn't. This is one of those moments in life were the hair is STANDING in your neck, and you can feel your heart pumping. I could never sleep feeling that terrified.

With all my bravery, I force my eyes open, and very robotically (as far as I remember) lift my back up to try to "scare" whatever I thought were watching us. Now this is where I think I'm overreacting, and I can't really believe my own memory here, but I'll tell you what I think I saw back then.

A VERY VAGUE shadow of a deer, in the woods. But there were way more than four legs, the head was NOT similar to that of a deer, and it was way taller. I'm talking twice, maybe thrice the height. Keep in mind, I was so terrified at this point that I didn't pay attention too much, only trying to calm myself and keep myself sane and calm. I stared at it for a bit, and once I thought it moved, I hid my face in my eyes, breathing through my fingers heavily. If it really did move, it was like a... Twisted spider-crawl. This is extremely blurry, but as if the joints in it's legs were doubled, and twisted and spun in the wrong ways, all over the place, very slowly.

I look back up, this time at the boys, and I see David ALSO being wide awake, in the same posture as me. His face is from a pure nightmare. His eyes forced wide, crying, and gritting his teeth with his lips spread open. It's the most intense face of horror and fear I've ever seen. That, I can't forget.

He didn't stare back at me, but I knew he had seen the same thing I saw, or something else, probably even more than me. Without startling him more, I just lay back down, and everything somewhat became normal. I didn't sleep for shit that night. I think David got up and walked around at some point even, but he was back in his sleeping bag once morning came. I never told the others anything. I tried talking to David but he denies everything and shuts me down before I even finish my sentance, like he was hiding something or severely traumatized.

I don't know what I saw. I've tried reading about Wendigoo's and stuff like that but I can't bring myself to believe it. Skinwalker is apparently a thing as well.

If you've ever experienced anything similar in Washington, or the nearby area, please leave a comment about your experience.

There IS more to this situation, but I've told enough, and writing all of this took a lot from me and I'm emotionally burnt out now. I wouldn't mind answering questions though. I could follow up later, if there's a point to it.

I've never told anyone about this. Only David, but he never really let me finish what I said. I did ask my nephew where people online "talk about paranormal stuff" and he lead me here, among other forums.

I think I just had a bit too much to drink that night. But you're welcome to prove me wrong.