This one doesn’t involve ghosts, but it’s still disturbing as hell and worth the read. 

So, when I was a freshman at RISD, I was walking up the hill to go back to my dorm. Walking down the hill was this well-dressed black man wearing aviators whom I paid no attention to. But suddenly, he stopped me and asked in the strangest, high-pitched voice “escu’ me, do you… ha’… cigareh?”
“Sorry, I don’t smoke,” I said. And I continued up the hill.

 

WEEKS (maybe even months) later, the same exact thing happened in the same exact spot with the same exact well-dressed man wearing aviators.

“escu’ me, do you… ha’… cigareh?”
“……. Sorry, I still don’t smoke,” I said and I continued up the hill.

Fast Forward to…
That summer, I was working at the Residence Life Office while this Pre-College program was happening for high school kids who were interested in applying to RISD. 

I was walking down Thayer St. with two of my friends. Both were RAs and both were named Emily. 


Right in front of Nice Slice Pizza, these two pre-college girls yelled out “Emilys!” And the four girls began to talk. I didn’t know them so I stood on the side, fiddling with my phone. Then I did a double-take. 

Standing in a circle were those four girls, and a well-dressed black man wearing aviators. The girls seemed oblivious to his presence, and he was just standing there staring (I wasn’t sure what at because of his aviators). Their short conversation ended and the girls said bye and dispersed, but then the man stopped one of the Emilys and said, “escu’ me… (inaudible muttering) ro—xyyy” (I think he was reading the brandname on her shirt)
Something didn’t feel right with him so I went up to them and took my friend away and whispered “Let’s go.” 
I looked back and he was just standing there with an expression-less face and his aviators, staring. 

Fast Forward to…
The end of the summer. Exterior. Night.
Pre-College had ended and I was helping one friend move down the hill and another friend move up the hill on the same day. It was exhausting and it basically took all day long. At the end of the day, around 9 or 10 PM, everyone was in the dorm bringing in the last of my friend’s things. I was outside the dorms, alone, carrying in the very last box.

It wasn’t too heavy, but it was large and awkward to carry so I sat it down on the ground for a second. As I did that, I heard a noise near me and I looked up. As if appearing out of thin air and less than two feet away was that man. I froze. 
And this time, he wasn’t wearing aviators. 

One eye was staring at me, and the other eye was pointed in the opposite direction. His face was completely expressionless and blank like an iguana. Or a cockatoo. After 4 or 5 seconds of blank staring, he whistled like a cuckoo bird and drifted backwards, retrieving into the darkness—his one eye still on me.

I then ran into the building, incredibly confused/disturbed and trying to assess the situation and figure out what the actual fuck I just experienced. 

Fast Forward to…

The summer before senior year. I stayed in Rhode Island because I was interning on Moonrise Kingdom. By then, I had told my story about the guy with the crazy eyes to quite a few of my friends. Including one RA friend, Sara. That summer, she gave me this picture: 

That was him. “Where did you get this photo??” I asked.

Public Safety had sent out that picture with a warning notice to the RAs on campus. That man was posting fake ads, attempting to lure young students to meet for a “job interview” at a location which turned out to be an abandoned warehouse. He was a convicted rapist.

Happy Halloween, everyone. Stay safe tonight. Travel in groups.
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