The world is certainly a scary place—but for one author, even his own home wasn't safe from the nightmares. Horror writer Grady Hendrix documented an experience that would have made anyone run for the hills...
Horror Lover
Grady Hendrix is a horror author and screenwriter known for his bestselling novel Horrorstör, which has since been optioned for film. Despite Hendrix's love of all things macabre, he took to Twitter to discuss one chilling event that started it all. He was only nine years old when he became the protagonist of a horror story himself...
Too Close to Home
Hendrix documented a childhood encounter with something sinister. Initially, no one believed him. His friends and his family thought he had read one too many horror comics. At least, not until they saw it for themselves...
Trauma Never Gets Old
"Everyone's telling scary stories for Halloween so I'll talk about something that happened to me when I was a kid because hey, trauma never gets old," Grady began. He settled in to share what happened back in 1981 when he was only a young boy...
Grady's Secret
When Grady was 9 years old, he made a thrilling discovery. If he was very quiet, he could sneak all the way downstairs and eat whatever he wanted from the fridge. At first, nobody noticed Grady's midnight snacking.
Late-Night Feast
Grady could make a sandwich with all of his favorite childhood things—peanut butter, mayonnaise, Cheez Whiz. He could eat leftover pizza, or lick the icing off birthday cakes. As long as Grady was careful not to get caught, the world was his oyster...
Creeping Around
Grady learned to navigate the entire house in pitch blackness. He described himself as a "tiny ninja," darting around in the dead of night. Unfortunately, his stealth would soon lead him to find something he never wanted to see.
One Night
For months, Grady kept up his secret snacking habits with nobody the wiser. In May 1981, his family ordered dinner from Fish & Shrimp House. When his family was soundly asleep, young Grady crept downstairs to get his hands on the leftover sweet 'n' sour pork. But something else awaited him...
Someone Was Waiting
Grady slowly snuck down the stairs and into the den. His guard was down. Suddenly, he heard the clang of a fork. The microwave clock highlighted the silhouette of a man sitting at the kitchen counter.
Was It Real?
Grady's heart was pounding. The strange man hadn't seen him. He was eating his family's leftovers, drinking milk from the carton. Grady stood there, frozen with terror...
Filled with Terror
"I can't explain how terrifying it is for someone to BE IN YOUR HOUSE," Grady tweeted. He was only a child at the time. What could he do in this situation? Call for help? Scream?
Gone Without a Trace
Grady backed away slowly, crept up the stairs, and woke up his parents. They awoke with a start and were upset that they had been roused out of bed in the middle of the night. By the time they got downstairs, the kitchen was deserted...
Too Many Comics
By the morning, his parents dismissed his absurd claims. There was no strange man looming around their house—they had searched it top to bottom. "You're reading too many horror comics," his mother said. Still, Grady refused to pour milk from the carton on his cereal.
Keeping Inventory
Grady was determined to prove his parents wrong. He started keeping track of every item in the kitchen to make sure nothing was moved out of place. It wasn't long before Grady noticed something strange...
Something Wasn't Right
First, Grady noticed that the paper napkin holder had been moved to the wrong side of the counter. Another day, there was a mug in the sink that hadn't been there the previous evening when Grady came downstairs. He was growing suspicious...
Sleeping with a Weapon
Grady's bedroom door didn't have a lock on it. As a precaution, he slept with a steak knife under his pillow. "I must've stabbed myself in the hand 1000 times checking to make sure it was there," he wrote. Then, in August, Grady saw something that scared him speechless.
Eye to Eye
Grady was in his room reading. He felt an uncomfortable presence. He briefly glanced up at the AC vent over his bed—and saw a pair of eyes staring back at him.
Where Was He?
Once again, Grady sprinted to his parents' room. They reluctantly agreed to search the attic and crawlspace beneath the house. Weeks passed, and they still couldn't find a shred of evidence that Grady was telling the truth. Grady was losing hope.
The Smell of Decay
Finally, in the last week of August, the Hendrixes' house began to reek. The stench was unbearable. One night, Grady thought rice had fallen out of the vent over his bed. He was horrified to realize that it was actually maggots.
Something in the Walls
His parents, increasingly uneasy, called the air conditioning company to come to check out what had happened. She was told that an animal had perhaps gotten caught in the walls or the vents and died. They arrived that afternoon—a day that Grady would never forget.
Horrifying Discovery
The smell was the worst in Grady's room. The air conditioning repairman gathered to unscrew his vent and find out what animal had died. His family stood in the doorway, waiting. However, when they opened the vent, the repairman grew pale.
Run
"You need to get him out of here," the repairman said. "And you need to call the police." Frightened, his parents ushered Grady outside. What was going on? His mother dialed 911...
Police Arrive
Grady and his parents waited outside for the police to arrive. Blue and red sirens lit up the block. Grady knew something unspeakable had been discovered in his room. After the police parked their squad car, the repairmen led them into the house. "He died up there," Grady heard the repairman say. Who was "he"?
The Truth Comes Out
When the police exited the house, even they looked shaken. One of the officers took Grady's parents aside to tell them what was going on. Mrs. Hendrix looked like she might faint...
Man in the Vents
Grady couldn't have steeled himself for this no matter how hard he tried. What had crawled into their vents and died wasn't an animal. It was human.
Real-Life Horror Story
Grady and his parents lived in a large, old house with lots of space between the walls and the air ducts. The man had been living in them since at least May. Perhaps it had been even earlier. And that wasn't even the worst of it...
He Was Being Watched
The man had inserted a foam pad beside the vent in Grady's bedroom, so he would be comfortable while he watched him. Grady was sickened—especially his parents, who regret not having believed their son when he first saw the man that fateful day four months earlier...
Creepy Drawings
The police told Grady's parents that the man had made lots of "drawings" of Grady. When Grady overhead them, he asked what they meant, but they pretended that they never said anything.
Unidentified Suspect
The body was removed from the Hendrixes' house. The family tried to resume life as normal, but it was difficult. The man remained unidentified. He was buried as a John Doe.
The Aftermath
"To this day I can't look inside the vents in houses," Grady wrote. "But sometimes when I'm at someone's house I'll smell a little BO coming from their central air conditioning, and I'll wonder who’s living back there in their ducts. Who's living in the dark?"
A Tale of Warning
Grady's story was enough to creep out thousands of people on the internet who had come across his spooky story right in time for Halloween. Evidently, the experience was gruesome enough to turn Grady into the horror author he is today. Don't forget to check your vents tonight—you never know what's really in there.