bit woo- but have you ever met anyone you have felt scared of for no reason?

[crochetmonkey74]

I'm fascinated by stories like this- when you meet someone and they don't necessarily do anything - more that you just feel scared- intuition etc

I'm nearly 50 and it's happened once very strongly (was justified I later came to find out) and once not as strongly - so it's not a regular occurrence, but stories like this really interest me

But don't forget, those two have had a lot of Botox. That really doesn't help them.

No, it's not that it's the vibe that he gives off, even though they're on TV you can sense it. I sometimes think that Little Britain was just DW sick fantasies being played out for all to see......yuck

The botox thing has made me really laugh 😂

Only once but quite recently. Was browsing in a large shop and this middle aged man who was completely minding his own business and looked quite normal just made my hair stand on end and I suddenly felt quite panicky and like I needed to get away from him. I also felt really anxious about him going near my DH who was browsing in another section with our baby so went to herd them away. So weird and no idea why he gave me the heebies. I’m not at all into woo stuff but I do think we sometimes have instinctive responses that we can’t always understand on a conscious level.

I used to work for a small independent travel company, I got bad vibes from the bloke who owned the company right from my interview but I took the job because in many ways it was my dream job. We did a lot of work in a part of the world that was in some areas quite dangerous and he was heavily involved in a charity out there (deliberately being vague!) and he told me some horror stories about trips he’d taken there. He then asked me to go with him on a trip to this country. I made an excuse not to as I was convinced if I did I wouldn’t come home alive. It turned out that he was a compulsive liar who eventually spent some time at her majesty’s pleasure for some pretty substantial fraud. I genuinely believe if I’d still worked there he’d have tried to take me down with him.

@ToMeToYouAndBack @RhodaPenmark

Why would you be safer with a cold, calculating, manipulative, criminal sane man than a person who is mentally ill but receiving treatment in hospital?

I think the point @AmethystSparkles was making that pretending to be insane to escape a prison sentence is indicative of being calculating and manipulative, possibly even psychopathic. The case she is referring to is a young man who faked psychopathy by copying characters from films and things he had read in a book about Ted Bundy to avoid a sentence for GBH. The psychiatrists knew that he was faking. However, pathological lying, manipulation, callousness, lack of remorse, disregard for the law, exploitation for personal gain, being calculating, good at faking, lack of accountability etc, all the behaviours he was exhibiting by faking being psychopathic, are genuinely psychopathic traits and he was diagnosed (correctly) as being a psychopath.

His plan was to be miraculously cured after a short stint on Broadmoor so he could be released. The irony is that there is no successful treatment for psychopathy so he couldn’t be released…

Yes although I've had it more with buildings strangely. For instance there was an area in the old building that our firm was in before we moved into our new building. You had to go downstairs to the canteen, and there was a bit just before you got to the door where I just felt so uncomfortable, like someone was watching me. It was very unnerving.

The incident with a person though came when we got new neighbours. They were a pleasant, quiet couple but I just felt very uncomfortable when I met the husband. I cannot put my finger on what it was, just that he made the hair stand up on the back of my neck and gave me the creeps. I went next door one day to collect a parcel that they'd taken in for us, the husband came to the door and I just couldn't get away quick enough. I had an overwhelming feeling of revulsion. I mentioned it to DH who was concerned and said that he would collect anything in future and make sure he never came near me.

After we moved DH used to keep in touch with one of our other neighbours as they worked in the same. He came home after meeting our old neighbour for lunch and told me that the creepy husband had been arrested for sexual offences including upskirting in our local shopping centre.

I had this once with a decorator I had come to work on my house. I've renovated houses and been alone in properties with dozens of tradesmen over the years, but this one guy made me feel so uncomfortable when I was alone with him.
He made my skin crawl from the moment he walked in, he would stare at me as if staring into my soul with a weird smirk on his face.
I felt like was trying to make me feel uncomfortable - like it was a game to him. He used a few phrases which could have been perfectly innocent, but came across like innuendo, as if he was gauging my reaction to his words with double meaning.

I asked my father in law to come over on the second day of work as I couldn't bear being alone with him for another day. When the painter came in, he was just as creepy as the day before - until he saw my father in law and his whole persona changed instantly, he behaved in a completely different manner for the rest of the day. Even his voice and the way he stood changed, it was as if he was a different person entirely. It was quite bizarre and made me feel even more freaked out that he could change the way he portrayed himself instantly!

Funnily enough, this happened to me just 2 days ago and I keep thinking about it. Waiting to pick my child up from a school event, lots of other parents standing around chatting. A man I've never seen before walked over to a group of parents standing beside me and started chatting. He seemed perfectly pleasant and they all seemed pleased to see him. He immediately gave me a real feeling of threat and I couldn't stop looking at him to try to figure out why. I'm sure I've never met him, he was well dressed, quite good looking, chatting pleasantly - so nothing at all to explain the feeling. But it was so strong and overwhelming and I've thought about it a lot since then. Poor man might be very nice, I have no idea why I reacted that way and I wonder if he reminded me of someone? But I do believe in trusting your instincts and paying attention if you feel scared or threatened.

I’ve never met anyone who I felt scared of just by looking at them, but I have met men where I have felt instinctively threatened by them. Three examples

i had to advise an employee of a disciplinary, we were alone in my office, I had a startling thought that he would hurt me if he could. Something unsaid but in his manner, his eyes, I genuinely felt he was thinking about hurting me and would if he could. Never had that feeling in my life before that I knew what someone was thinking . But as I told him the accusations, I honestly felt he was thinking about hurting me.

a man who came to read the meter, unexpectadly, I was outside doing some stuff, and in some gym gear, the way he approached me and interacted with me, I just felt I was at risk. Fortunately I had locked my dog in the living room, who was a lab with a big boi bark, but wouldn’t hurt a fly, as per with labs, when we went in the house, the dog went crazy, proper barking and launching himself up at the door. I simply said don’t worry, I won’t let him out, so he can’t hurt you. My intent was clear, that if I opened the door, he would. The man had no idea what type of dog it was, and looked nervous. His whole demeaner changed, and , he read the meter without even glancing at me again. I stood holding the living room door handle for the duration. He left without a word.

a Russian man, a customer, we had had a few drinks as a group at a work event, he started circling me, in my personal space, silent and staring. He was literally inches from me. And my hackles went up. I excused myself and left.

each man though did something. They did something that told me something was wrong, and I instinctively responded to it..

I changed unis in my degree due to my partners job. There were a few older ‘direct entry’ students one of whom gave me the total heebiejeebies from the moment he stood up to introduce himself.

I had an instant severe dislike for
him. All the young ones seemed to love him. Speaking to another more mature woman student she raised the topic of feeling extremely uncomfortable from the moment she met him and one by one other mature people admitted the same. He tried to befriend a very vulnerable young woman on the course and when she withdrew her friendship he moved onto a very gentil young man.

A few months before the end he was arrested for attempting to murder two people in separate events.

My mum always told me I was being too over sensitive and anxious about my instincts and it was reassuring when others confirmed they too felt it. I’m just sad it was right in this instance, I’d have rather been wrong than have two people seriously hurt by this man.

A hospital porter gave me awful vibes. I was in hospital for several days & needing a lot of tests. I have restricted mobility and was very weak at the time.
He was wheeling me down for an MRI. I felt he kept steering me towards quiet corners but then someone would appear & so he just carried on to our destination.
I'd decided that if he came back for me I'd request someone else. Thankfully he didn't.

Mine was also a child that set me off. 9 year old boy, very challenging background that wasn’t his fault. Kid of a friend of a friend.

We were away camping for the weekend as a group and I had a young daughter and a newborn. Despite being bone tired with the newborn I knew there was something about that kid which meant he should NEVER be left alone with my young daughter. I tired myself in knots all weekend keeping her from being alone with him.

Sometimes you just know, and you have to trust it.

Yes he was a headteacher at a school I cleaned at. Seemed nice enough on the surface and everyone loved him but I just always felt really uncomfortable around him and could never put my finger on it then a few years later he got sent to prison for being a paedophile

Yes! I feel like this about Eddie Izzard.

Our postwoman she has been on the street three months and delivers small packages the odd time. She knows us to see either myself or my husband sees her every morning after the school run. She looks like she hates us ignores and gives dirty looks when we say hello.She met my husband at the gate last week and would not hand him the post she said you have to open the door which he did the post was only leaflets. A few days ago she knocked on with a small signed for item for me asked for the surname which he gave. She then said its a woman's name i need id never had anyone like this in the 20 years we have lived here.

You do realise that not everyone in a psych ward is a 'dangerous lunatic', right, Rhoda? In fact none of them because 'dangerous lunatic' is not a medical diagnosis.

Those of us who've been treated in-patient in psych wards simply had a mental illness like any other type of illness.

Ooh yes!

A man I drove past during the carnival we have here. He was stood up and talking to another man in a stationary car. I just had the most awful sense that he was extremely evil. So weird.

@VeryInteresting12 yes I have super super bad vibes about Ricky Gervais.

Worked in a care home many many years ago. I went to the manager about a staff member. There was just 'something' that concerned me about him, that made me uncomfortable and want to keep any eye on him.

Anyway he left, I left and moved on. Then reading the paper one day I see his picture he'd been involved in the death of someone. My old manager actually contacted me when it came out and said i obviously had 'spider tingles' (I still don't know what that means!)

Yes, around 25 years ago when I was a junior engineer I met a man at work who I felt quite scared of. But there was no obvious reason, I just didn't trust him. In fact i hated working with him, it was a really strong feeling. I quietly voiced a concern to a colleague and was told not to worry- the guy was great, very active in his local community volunteering, been at the company 15 years and no issues.

Everyone apart from me was very shocked when he was escorted off site for dealing in images of children. This was 18 months after I first met him. But according to the court case he had been doing it for years.

My dh had an interest in photography ( landscapes mostly ) so we joined a local photography group which would meet up in a hall fortnightly. They would have competitions with other groups , have regular speakers etc etc .
There was one man and his partner that also attended , they were both quite chatty and involved in the club but there was something about him that felt " off " about him and the photos he shared for critique were often of children / teenagers.
The local hospital asked the club to donate some photography to be displayed in the corridors / waiting rooms so in one meet the club members put forward some of their work to be framed and displayed and members of the club voted for which ones were chosen.
One of the photos put foward by the ' off' man I found quite disturbing ( can't remember the content , only it was a young teenage girl ) I quietly suggested to a few that it wasn't suitable. My opinion was disregarded and it was duly displayed in the hospital. It apparently received complaints and they were asked to remove it.
It turned out a few years later , he was a paedophile and had sexually abused many children and was sentenced to 12 years in prison .

My previous job Involved working with teenagers who had committed offences. I’d met them all, drug dealers, rapists, even someone who had killed a family member. However I never felt uncomfortable around any of them until I met a run of the mill car thief. He was charming, attractive and engaged with our service well but he made me shudder, a few times I left meetings with him feeling really uncomfortable and almost ill.

a few years later he was assessed as rating high on the psychopathy spectrum by a mental health team. It did not surprise me at all .

A bloke used to run a health foods shop near me and was superficially nice but I got a strange vibe off him, and I used to think he was a bit hostile to me underneath it. Years later it he was prosecuted for some horrific child porn offences. He also worked as a hypnotist which was even more disturbing.

I moved to a different school aged 7 in the late 80s. There was one boy who everyone avoided. He would act really shifty, hide in trees waiting for girls, always had a weird sneer on his face. Didn’t see him after he went to a middle school, but aged 15/16 it was in the news that he’d murdered an old lady. I can’t bring myself to look at his face when looking at old school photos as it’s full of evil.