This guy’s viral Reddit story about a stranger living in his apartment is every single person’s nightmare

Though we all love to watch some Home Alone in the weeks before Christmas, a story currently going viral on Reddit is a firm reminder that strangers entering your house without your permission is the stuff of epic, life-shattering nightmares — and that living alone can be really freaking scary.

On Sunday, redditor Ashtonez posted one such nightmare of a story — one that is still, apparently, playing out in real time — to the popular LetsNotMeet nonfiction subreddit. (As of press time, Ashtonez claims to be working with his local police to obtain a report that will satisfy Reddit’s verification standards.)

Basically, what went down is this: the dude’s roommate moved out to join the military, leaving him alone with his two cats and unable to afford his apartment on his own. Eventually, he temporarily pawned the cats off to his parents while he plans a more affordable move … but when that happened, things that went wrong around his house (like lights being on that he swore he’d turned off, doors being left open, food missing from the fridge) became less explainable.

He began a graveyard shift in tech support, and when his job agreed to allow him to work from home a couple of weeks ago, things started to get even scarier. First he found his balcony door partially unlocked, which wouldn’t be that creepy on its own. Then $3,000 was charged to his credit card while he was still at work and it was in his possession, and then — woof, this one’s scary — he heard someone picking his lock at 3 a.m. while he was home.

Then, finally, the nightmare kicked in: nestled behind his Christmas tree on Sunday, he found a black duffel bag containing “a change of clothes, sunglasses, shoes, toiletries and a notebook” … and the notes contained within said notebook are way, way creepier than any creepypasta we’ve ever seen on Reddit. false

"There were notes about me. What hours/days I worked, notes about my cats, and updated notes that they were no longer there and the date, my fucking credit card number! As I went further and further back in the notes, I found two words, circled multiple times 'Balcony Door.' Which I assume is how the person entered my apartment for the first time. This creep had been living in my apartment while I've been at work for the past month and I didn't even know it! The worst part is, that I was in my apartment at the same time as this guy, at some point, and didn't even know it. That's the only way he would have gotten my credit card number, and my house key to make a copy somewhere!

As many Redditors pointed out, seeing the words “heavy sleeper” written in a mysterious notebook found in your home has got to be the worst experience a singleton apartment renter could ever imagine.

The latest update to this story is that cops have confirmed that the renter’s old roommate is not the culprit, as he’s still in basic training. They’ve also found the person who used his credit card, so it looks like this very strange story might have a happy-ish ending for the poor dude who is spending his holidays without his cats but with a damn stranger shacking up in his apartment.

We’ll post updates as this story develops, but for now, good luck to all of you “heavy sleepers” trying to get some decent-shut eye tonight.