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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

To be scared of my neighbour? Weird noises at nights...

320 replies

Mikadua23 · 24/06/2021 00:33

So this is going to be very messy and long..
We moved here 2 years ago, we live in 2 semi detached house and our neighbour is on our right.

We live in cul de sac and the area is very quiet and peaceful.
I dont work right now due to taking care of our young child and being pregnant with our second so I am home all days.

My neighbour is a man in his ( I believe 50s)
He is very shy when you try to say hello but usually kind, we don't have problems and never had.
He lives alone and have no family or friends, nobody ever visited him for the last 2 years..
He was always alone on christmas, easter or other celebrations..
We would check on him through the covid situation when he would not leave his house for few days at all and we would do some food shopping for him, he was very happy with the help.
I would give him christmas cards but never had one back (not that I expected him to give one! I have purerly felt sorry for him)
I would also give him a portion of christmas dinner last year and he was very happy although never really came back with dishes , he just left them outside our door 2 weeks after..

Our landlord did say to us when we first moved here, that our neighbour is weird and nobody in the road likes him but I never asked questions.

I wouldn't care about the way He chose to live if not the fact that he works night shifts every other week and every time he leaves the house, you can hear noises from his house like someone is still inside which is odd because he does live on his own.
As I mentioned before...
He never even had a friend coming over...

We share walls and it usually takes about 5 mins after he leaves around midnight and then you can hear someone coming down the stairs inside his house .

I dont know why, I am scared of this man and always find him a bit weird, it shouldn't really be in my intesrest whats happening inside his house but the whole thing is just odd.

Despite all this..

He never goes anywhere except his job where he works 12 hours shifts around 4 times a week.

OP posts:
ConstanceGracy · 24/06/2021 15:50

@Bridezillamaybe

Nobody is saying he's a weirdo / paedo because he lives alone, people are saying it's strange that he pretends to live alone but there is somebody else in there.

OP I would ask him if he lives alone. If he says yes then I would look into it. I don't care what the other posters say about hysteria.

They’ve done exactly !
ConstanceGracy · 24/06/2021 15:51

Should say *they’ve done exactly that .. numerous times.

WrongWayApricot · 24/06/2021 16:43

4 mins after he goes out wait by his letterbox and look through it, ready for when the stair noise happens...? It's probably just the house settling after he's gone out though. A few years ago I thought someone was in my attic until I realised a cat liked to walk and hang out on my roof, could definitely be a cat.

Poorlykitten · 24/06/2021 16:52

…a cat that turns on the tap?! 😳

sammylady37 · 24/06/2021 16:53

@WrongWayApricot

4 mins after he goes out wait by his letterbox and look through it, ready for when the stair noise happens...? It's probably just the house settling after he's gone out though. A few years ago I thought someone was in my attic until I realised a cat liked to walk and hang out on my roof, could definitely be a cat.
Or maybe don’t invade the privacy of this man and any other occupants of his house, mind your own business and get a life instead of working yourself up into this hysteria?
SchrodingersImmigrant · 24/06/2021 16:55

@Poorlykitten

…a cat that turns on the tap?! 😳
Actually some can😂

On a serious not, that can be anything on timer or leaking toilet which sometimes tops up and it may sound similar etc.
Trillion things.

SchrodingersImmigrant · 24/06/2021 16:56

@WrongWayApricot

4 mins after he goes out wait by his letterbox and look through it, ready for when the stair noise happens...? It's probably just the house settling after he's gone out though. A few years ago I thought someone was in my attic until I realised a cat liked to walk and hang out on my roof, could definitely be a cat.
This is something i would call a police on...
Toddlerteaplease · 24/06/2021 17:01

One of my cats sounds like a fully grown adult moving around my house. She weighs 4.5kg. I have no idea how she makes so much noise.

Chikapu · 24/06/2021 17:06

Paralyzed with fear? You certainly have a flair for the dramatic if nothing else!

WrongWayApricot · 24/06/2021 17:24

@sammylady37 and @SchrodingersImmigrant
Oh I agree, it's not something I'd do or like being done to me. But, I'd rather someone did that to me than tell the police there's a burglar in my house. I used to have a letterbox curtain thing for this reason because I was paranoid about the bathroom being opposite the front door.

Nandakanda · 24/06/2021 17:36

A friend’s BIL had a massive breakdown decades ago, and lived in his Mum’s attic room ever since. Said friend has never actually met this BlL - only seen his back once when he came into the room by mistake- in over 30 years now.

christyt114 · 24/06/2021 17:53

You definitely must investigate this further, OP.

Can you creep around outside when he's out working and see if you can see anybody in there?

That's what I would do ...

Looubylou · 24/06/2021 18:07

He'll need a bigger portion of Christmas Dinner this year, if he is sharing it.

DumplingsAndStew · 24/06/2021 18:11

Oh look at that, the name changing OP hasn't been back!

Bet they've been kidnapped by the weirdo neighbour. That is the most rational explanation!

SchrodingersImmigrant · 24/06/2021 18:16

@DumplingsAndStew

Oh look at that, the name changing OP hasn't been back!

Bet they've been kidnapped by the weirdo neighbour. That is the most rational explanation!

😂
ChargingBuck · 24/06/2021 18:19

@DumplingsAndStew

Oh look at that, the name changing OP hasn't been back!

Bet they've been kidnapped by the weirdo neighbour. That is the most rational explanation!

Don't be ridiculous Dumplings.

The MOST rational explanation is that the neighbour is an undercover Man In Black, & the noises are bumptious aliens.

But mystery still remains! - she's either been recruited by the MIB, or neighbour has been forced to wipe her memory with the Flashy Thing.

Either way, I suppose she can't come back to tell us which it is ...

storminabuttercup · 24/06/2021 18:20

It does sound odd, as in op is scared of him but has his mobile number and made him xmas dinner. I wonder if she's a budding author looking for inspiration

SchrodingersImmigrant · 24/06/2021 18:23

@storminabuttercup

It does sound odd, as in op is scared of him but has his mobile number and made him xmas dinner. I wonder if she's a budding author looking for inspiration
It's a strategy. You feed them so they don't eat you😂
ObviousNameChage · 24/06/2021 18:24

It's a strategy. You feed them so they don't eat you😂

Just like with cats.Grin

storminabuttercup · 24/06/2021 18:29

@ObviousNameChage

It's a strategy. You feed them so they don't eat you😂

Just like with cats.Grin

Or kids
TheVolturi · 24/06/2021 18:29

Eeeeeee don't you just love a good mumsnet fable.

socalledfriend · 24/06/2021 18:34

NDN and the Mystery Beast

To be scared of my neighbour? Weird noises at nights...
TallFriendlyGinger · 24/06/2021 18:42

This whole thread is absolutely ridiculous, you have no real idea if he lives alone or not. Considering we've been on lockdown for most of the last year and a bit it wouldn't surprise me if me had a partner or elderly relative living with him who didn't leave the house. If you are so nosey and concerned just send him a text as other posters have described. No need to get yourself so worked up that you're having nightmares.

VerticalHorizon · 24/06/2021 18:47

Maybe he's got some dodgy plumbing or system that just appears to run water at night time etc.

Maybe he runs the washing machine while he's out to work and when it drains water it makes a tap running noise?

SchrodingersImmigrant · 24/06/2021 18:52

I gotta say though that even though we hear neigbours a lot, and their kitchen is right next to my living room, I have never heard water running.
Only outside when it was going to sewage system