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---
title: Viral Twitter Thread Documents Spooky Man Hiding in the Walls
description: A man&#x27;s 19-part viral Twitter thread documenting a terrifying story of a man hiding and sleeping in the walls of his home has taken off.
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author: Ashley Hoffman
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article:published_time: 2019-10-30T14:33:44.000Z
article:modified_time: 2023-12-12T20:54:25.000Z
og:title: This Tale of a Man Living in the Walls Is Really Creeping People Out Because &#x27;Trauma Never Gets Old&#x27;
og:description: It&#x27;s the stuff of nightmares -- but is it true?
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twitter:title: This Tale of a Man Living in the Walls Is Really Creeping People Out Because &#x27;Trauma Never Gets Old&#x27;
twitter:description: It&#x27;s the stuff of nightmares -- but is it true?
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# This Twitter Thread About a Man Living in the Walls Is Really Creeping People Out Because 'Trauma Never Gets Old'

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by 

[Ashley Hoffman](https://time.com/author/ashley-hoffman/)


## Ashley Hoffman


Updated: Dec 12, 2023 8:54 PM UTCPublished: Oct 30, 2019 2:33 PM UTC

by 

[Ashley Hoffman](https://time.com/author/ashley-hoffman/)


## Ashley Hoffman


Updated: Dec 12, 2023 8:54 PM UTCPublished: Oct 30, 2019 2:33 PM UTC

It’s time to gather around the phone screens and read a [nightmarish Twitter tale](https://time.com/5558954/nightmare-cabin/) from a man who really (well, purportedly) lived it, as is [Halloween tradition](https://time.com/5712886/michael-myers-halloween-costume/). In other words, scary Twitter threads are the new scary campfire stories.

In a lengthy thread full of eye-widening developments, Twitter user Grady Hendrix documents his alleged childhood encounters with a man squatting in his family’s house.

Setting the scene, Hendrix wrote that it was 1981, he was 9, and he was hungry. So, he snuck down to the kitchen for a late-night snack — leftover sweet and sour pork from a delectable-sounding restaurant, “the Fish & Shrimp House.”

What was actually on the menu, however? TERROR.

In the kitchen, Hendrix wrote, he saw “a skinny guy, eating our leftovers, and drinking our milk from the carton.” (The man, Hendrix said, couldn’t see him.)

“I can’t explain how terrifying it is for someone to BE IN YOUR HOUSE,” Hendrix wrote. “I slooooowly backed away, crept upstairs, and woke up my mom & dad.”

He says his parents did not believe him, and continued to doubt his sightings despite repeat appearances from the mysterious intruder — including one moment in which he allegedly caught the man watching him through an A/C vent in his bedroom. The nineteen-part yarn only unravels from there — descending into deeper and darker horror story territory. According to Hendrix, the enigmatic man had been living in the walls, and eventually died in them.

If real, the incident proved oddly fortuitous, or perhaps inspirational: suspense became Hendrix’s specialty. He’s written books including _My Best Friend’s Exorcism_ and the graphic novel _Horrorstör_.


Here is his chilling thread in full — and decide for yourself whether you think it’s true.

> [](https://twitter.com/grady%5Fhendrix/status/1189335689680379904)

> [](https://twitter.com/grady%5Fhendrix/status/1189335691555168256)

> [](https://twitter.com/grady%5Fhendrix/status/1189335692855394306)


> [](https://twitter.com/grady%5Fhendrix/status/1189335694008815616)

> [](https://twitter.com/grady%5Fhendrix/status/1189335695049023490)

> [](https://twitter.com/grady%5Fhendrix/status/1189335697502720001)


> [](https://twitter.com/grady%5Fhendrix/status/1189335698538745856)

> [](https://twitter.com/grady%5Fhendrix/status/1189335699436244992)

> [](https://twitter.com/grady%5Fhendrix/status/1189335700358995970)


> [](https://twitter.com/grady%5Fhendrix/status/1189335701323767808)

> [](https://twitter.com/grady%5Fhendrix/status/1189335702393278464)

> [](https://twitter.com/grady%5Fhendrix/status/1189335703341195264)


> [](https://twitter.com/grady%5Fhendrix/status/1189335704289140737)

> [](https://twitter.com/grady%5Fhendrix/status/1189335705144758274)

> [](https://twitter.com/grady%5Fhendrix/status/1189335706105188357)


> [](https://twitter.com/grady%5Fhendrix/status/1189335707082465281)

> [](https://twitter.com/grady%5Fhendrix/status/1189335708135251969)

> [](https://twitter.com/grady%5Fhendrix/status/1189335709120974848)


> [](https://twitter.com/grady%5Fhendrix/status/1189335710005977088)

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