Urban Legend or True Story: Reflection in the window
Is this an urban legend or a true story? It was a snowy night when a teenage girl was home alone babysitting her sister. She was watching television until she saw something that terrified her. Were her eyes playing tricks on her or was there a killer outside her window?
“Appearances are often deceiving.” – Aesop
Terror Outside the Window
I first saw this story @HorrorBible. Because of the nature of the tale, I decided to do more thorough research. According to ListVerse, reflection in the window is an urban legend or is it?
Apparently, one extremely snowy night, a teenager was home alone babysitting her little sister. Around 9:30, she put her sibling to bed. Going back downstairs to watch more television, she sat down on the couch and started channel surfing.
Noticing the beautiful scene outside the sliding glass doors leading out to her backyard, she became entranced with the falling snow. Turning off the tv, wrapping a blanket around her, she watched the winter wonderland.
Out of the blue she noticed a man walking rather briskly toward the glass doors with a shiny object in his hand. Squinting so she could get a better idea of what was happening, she saw the malicious look on his face.
Her heart racing, she quickly covered herself up with the blanket. Closing her eyes, she began silently praying for the man to go away. For what seemed like an eternity, she finally removed the blanket.
Looking around her, there was no sign of the intruder. Nothing amiss outside, at least from her vantage point in the living room. Petrified and shaking, she began wondering if she were hallucinating.
Illusion or Reality?
Acting on instinct, she called the police. They immediately came to the house to investigate what was going on. After talking with the girl, who was obviously traumatized to the core, one of the officers approached the glass doors and went outside to investigate.
He had been gone for a while and when he came back in, the news was rather grim. “I am afraid I can’t find any footprints in the yard. With this snowfall, they would not have dried so quickly.” recounted the officer.
The teen knew she wasn’t going crazy. “I definitely saw a man standing at the door!” To put the girl at ease, the officers investigated the entire household.
When they returned, the one policeman noticed the position of the couch and what appeared to be wet spots on the carpet. Upon closer examination, he could see that the spots were footprints! What the teenager had seen had been very real!
The potential killer had been behind her on the couch the entire time. What she was seeing was his reflection in the sliding glass doors!
What Do You Think?
This entire encounter sounds like the late 70s movie with Carol Kane, When a Stranger Calls. “The call is coming from inside the house!” Perhaps the person who first started this so called urban legend was an avid fan of horror films.
It almost feels as if these events could be in a Lifetime movie, The Stranger Behind My Couch. That being said, in my childhood home, our television was also positioned near sliding glass doors. I can tell you that sometimes when I was watching a movie late at night, I would get the feeling that someone was looking at me.
Then again, this could be a very real frightening ordeal. The teenager narrowly escaped being a statistic. If it is true, how did the intruder get out? Furthermore, why didn’t he just kill her? Evidently, that was his intention.
I guess this will just remain a mystery. A tall tale to be told late at night to your children on Halloween. If you do believe that this story is fake, then be very careful when you are home alone late at night. Especially if you happen to be sitting next to a window!
Next: It came from Seattle: The curious case of the haunted soda machine
Do you think this is an urban legend or a true story? Why do you think the intruder didn’t harm the girl? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comment section below. We want to hear from you!