Posted by Darthbindy Why not just finish your story now though, breaking it up like that'll make it a pain to read (reading one part, having to scroll through 10 replies to see the rest), and I'm pretty curious what happened

Well... I guess I am technically finishing my story "now," haha. I think the cliff hanger is an underutilized forum trope.

... And now for the conclusion of my story.

My friends were way more fit than I, so they disappeared into the darkness. I was running, but I had a pretty good head start from the "cops" behind me. I decided to turn my flash light off, and run in the dark. That way it would be easier to lose them - even though I had a white shirt on.

Running without the light in a 100% pitch black, dark, slippery tunnel is not fun. At several points I kicked graffiti spray cans. Luckily I never stepped on one, because I would have fallen and ate shit.

I never stopped to look behind me, just kept going. Even though my flashlight was off, there was a tiny bit of light from theirs. Not enough really to show me where I'm going, but enough to tell me that they're still in pursuit. Eventually that diminished and I turned around. Nothing but darkness.

After a quick breather, I started running again - didn't want to them close the gap - if they planned on it. I got to the exit, and climbed the fence out of the tunnel. Errily silent, and no idea where my friends went. I didn't drive, so I was hoping to find them soon. Were they picked up by the police? I headed back to the car and waited what felt like eternity but eventually a dark figure emerges, and its my friend. We GTFO...

Now this is a HUGE tunnel, and it was late at night... were those really cops? We thought maybe they could be:

- Graffiti artists pretending to be cops to scare us away (after all, the tunnel had tons of graffiti)
- Actual Cops that randomly patrol storm drains
- Squatters living in the tunnel (there were dry parts)

Overall it was a night none of us will ever forget - only one way out... the looonnng way.

My strangest story still has to be one from a number of years ago now, when I first got into exploring.

It was around 9:45-10:00 pm on a Friday night. At the time, I was only 15 or 16. I could not drive yet (nor any of my close friends) so we spent our nights skating around the "downtown" area of the town I live in. After hitting a couple rooftops, we all decided to go hit an abandon school we had all been to a couple times but never at night.

After skating a couple of miles from downtown to the school, which i must add is in the center of the worst of the ghetto, we went in through our normal entry point through the old cafeteria. My friends and I had been to the school several times during the day, and trying to be "cool" all my friends didn't wanna use flashlights, rather explore in the dark (Stupid 15 year old me gave in). I thought this was an awful idea, the place looked like it housed several squatters by night....

We entered through the cafeteria, making our way to go down the main hall. As soon as we hit the main hallway walking out of the cafeteria we hit plastic bowls and cups laid out all over, making a ton of noise. As soon as we hit them, my first instinct was someone laid those so they would hear us coming, but all my friends assured me that I was just paranoid. We continued down the hall, in the near pitch black. We made it half way down the hall; so far we'd seen nothing but it sounded like someone was further down the hall towards the gym. They once again said they heard nothing at all, and we kept going.

Continuing down the pitch black hallway, we are almost all the way through. Only two more classrooms to walk past and we have made it to the gym. That moment, A guy jumps out from the inside of the classroom who attempts to grab my friend in the front of the group. My friend still carrying his board nails the guy with it. The guy yells out, and a group of 3 more guys came running from the gym with flashlights. At this point I (and my friends) are HAULING ASS down the hallway. The group of guys chasing us right on our heels. Still in full sprint, we dipped out the nearest exit with them still chasing us on foot.

We are still running full sprint down the side of the property out to the road, the guys from inside still in pursuit. All of them are screaming random shit at us; we were all running off pure adrenaline. I remember hitting the road, throwing my board down and just pushing like hell, faster then I knew I could, all my friends (luckily) beside me. We'd all made it out; we just now had bigger problems to face. We were still getting chased by these goons, us trying to flee by skating/ running through the ghetto. We all split, and think were gonna loose them. One of us went the route towards the main road thinking if anything else we'd be in plain view if they catch us. The others went a back way. However, the guys that were on foot got picked up into two cars, and it became apparent this was going to be hell to try to get away.

The next hour turned into the best/ scariest game of cat and mouse. I just remember literally running through peoples yards, jumping fences, going anywhere we could to get away. We all got split up which is honestly how we ultimately got away. Eventually, I ran/skated/hid the way back to our usual meet up spot; the local subway restaurant on the main street downtown. We were scared shitless but everyone made it.

The conclusion:

We went back the next morning to figure out what the hell those guys were doing in there to the point they'd chase us for literal miles on foot and in cars. We entered through the gym side of the building and found a table near the hall where the guys were. It appeared to be all clear so we snooped around a bit. Sitting on the table were a series of razor blades, some random powder (which apparently was crack according to my friends), a spoon/ lighter (freebasing? Lol), random baggies (but a ton of them), and some needles scattered around. Our best guess was that maybe they were ether dealing out of the building/ maybe they were some form of local gang that met there from time to time? Never really knew for sure; just that I'd no longer fuck around in the ghetto so carelessly again.

Posted by Guybrush Wow, suddenly I feel like I'm three times the median age of an Urban Explorer. Why wasn't I doing this when I was 10? Haha. I'm surprised to see young kids be a theme in this thread.

Hahaha I wouldn't worry too much I mean I wouldn't really call them urban explorers more just random kids and y'know kids always find a way to get themselves in trouble so if theres a big abandonment around they're bound to play in it if they can. But yet again this probably doesn't mean much coming from me, since I've been on UER since I was 14 lol.

Posted by Guybrush Oh man, that's so weird... So was it just an occupied house that the owners left filthy? Or just a super casual sqautter?

Definitely derelict house with a live-in resident!

That's an awesome story Higgs.

The only time I've run into anyone unexpected in an abandonment (besides security or police), I was exploring an old, low key factory in a small town close to home. I had been there once before and knew it was a good place to spend a few hours taking photos if you weren't in the mood to worry about getting in any trouble.

I pop through the fence and get into the wide open building no problem. I'm taking pictures, minding my own business, when I hear some voices. I stop what I'm doing and peek around the corner, looking out towards the sound, and see a father and a son walking together through the building. The kid looks to be about ten years old. They hadn't heard me yet, so I figure I make my presence known in a peaceful way so as to not startle the pair.

"Hey--"
"OH WE'RE SO SORRY WE THOUGHT IT WAS ABANDONED WE WILL LEAVE RIGHT AWAY SORRY VERY SORRY"
"No it's fine, I'm just taking pictures and didn't want to startle you guys..."

They then just kind of slowly walk away and don't say anything after that, even when we cross paths in other parts of the building. It was really awkward but it was cool seeing a father and son bond over a location.

Posted by TD That's an awesome story Higgs. The only time I've run into anyone unexpected in an abandonment (besides security or police), I was exploring an old, low key factory in a small town close to home. I had been there once before and knew it was a good place to spend a few hours taking photos if you weren't in the mood to worry about getting in any trouble. I pop through the fence and get into the wide open building no problem. I'm taking pictures, minding my own business, when I hear some voices. I stop what I'm doing and peek around the corner, looking out towards the sound, and see a father and a son walking together through the building. The kid looks to be about ten years old. They hadn't heard me yet, so I figure I make my presence known in a peaceful way so as to not startle the pair. "Hey--" "OH WE'RE SO SORRY WE THOUGHT IT WAS ABANDONED WE WILL LEAVE RIGHT AWAY SORRY VERY SORRY" "No it's fine, I'm just taking pictures and didn't want to startle you guys..." They then just kind of slowly walk away and don't say anything after that, even when we cross paths in other parts of the building. It was really awkward but it was cool seeing a father and son bond over a location.

Thats pretty hilarious, I hope you don't ever have an experience like mine.

Posted by RollingInTheHiggs My strangest story still has to be one from a number of years ago now, when I first got into exploring. It was around 9:45-10:00 pm on a Friday night.

Meh...
Vandals, thugs, etc. come out to play when the sun goes down.
Being chased by 9mm or .45 slugs tends to not work out well.

Here's a few good past threads on the topic:

Encountering other people while exploring:
http://www.uer.ca/...=1&threadid=118357
http://www.uer.ca/...=1&threadid=107457
http://www.uer.ca/...readid=88759#post0 (Captain-Slow’s basic write-up)
http://www.uer.ca/...d=1&threadid=92126
http://www.uer.ca/...=1&threadid=113389
http://www.uer.ca/...d=1&threadid=86680
http://www.uer.ca/...d=1&threadid=65332
http://www.uer.ca/...=1&threadid=117055 (taggers)
https://www.uer.ca...=1&threadid=118675 (gangs)

All the time. Usually every spot in Detroit, for some reason.

Posted by blackhawk Meh... Vandals, thugs, etc. come out to play when the sun goes down. Being chased by 9mm or .45 slugs tends to not work out well.

Agreed. That was done with the ignorance of being young.

After spending the night in an abandoned prison, we decided to drive to an abandoned college to find a place to crash for the night. We looked at the dorm room building first. The stairs were blackened from someone trying to catch the place on fire...a few times. We then noticed another building near it that had lights on and the faint sound of a dying alarm. We looked around for a few minutes. As we were passing through a dark hallway, I heard a person cough in the darkness behind me. This person waited until we were all nearly through before he coughed. When I heard it I freaked out a bit and alerted the others. The guy right in front of me tried for the door at the same time I did. After a quick struggle, we both made it through. It was comical. I don't know why I was so scared but it was the first time I have ever come across a stranger in an abandoned place. Two members of our group insisted we talk to the guy and crash here. They had a short chat with him and the rest of us said fuck that and threw down on a hotel.

About a week ago Me and some friends hit an abandoned diner in downtown. when I had first hit the building a few years ago it was in great shape, however it was being more trashed by the day due to constant squatting.
when we entered the main dining area we saw a large poster board with cut out pictures of what appeared to be teenage girls pasted on it, lying one of the tables. we started saying how fucking creepy it was because these looked like recently developed film photos and all of the girls were not posing for the picture. These girls also all appeared to be younger than 18. While we were talking about how fucking creepy this was we heard a voice less than 10 feet away yell "there is someone else here!" we didn't have time to look we just kinda booked it being we were exploring with an attractive women and didn't want her to be harmed and the fact we were all generally creeped out.
I still don't know what to think of this perverted poster board or of the person or people that were inside of the building, but I will not be returning anytime soon.

Posted by pash About a week ago Me and some friends hit an abandoned diner in downtown. when I had first hit the building a few years ago it was in great shape, however it was being more trashed by the day due to constant squatting. when we entered the main dining area we saw a large poster board with cut out pictures of what appeared to be teenage girls pasted on it, lying one of the tables. we started saying how fucking creepy it was because these looked like recently developed film photos and all of the girls were not posing for the picture. These girls also all appeared to be younger than 18. While we were talking about how fucking creepy this was we heard a voice less than 10 feet away yell "there is someone else here!" we didn't have time to look we just kinda booked it being we were exploring with an attractive women and didn't want her to be harmed and the fact we were all generally creeped out. I still don't know what to think of this perverted poster board or of the person or people that were inside of the building, but I will not be returning anytime soon.

That's seriously just odd sounding...

Posted by RollingInTheHiggs That's seriously just odd sounding...

Yeah im saying! i wish i would have gotten a picture. maybe ill sneak back in just for a photo of that and then dip

Posted by pash Yeah im saying! i wish i would have gotten a picture. maybe ill sneak back in just for a photo of that and then dip

Go for it if you can!

I was in the medical/surgical building at a psychiatric center and we were on the first floor coming down the hall from the morgue. We passed the breezeway that connected this building to two others out back to see a black hooded figure walking down it towards us. He was navigating around debris and such.
I said "hey, whats up?" and he did not reply. I wasn't about to stick around to find out who he is. We kept going and I told my friend in a low voice lets go up a few floors. We went up about two to three floors and listened. He was coming up the stairs!!
We quickly went up another flight and into the hall and into a room. We heard him coming up the stairs. Thank god he passed our floor. We waited a few minutes, then went back downstairs. We went through the same breezeway he had came through. Ended up exploring the other buildings without an issue. Did not run into him again at all that day.
It was a really sketchy guy. How he didn't say nothing, but followed us in a way. Now that I look back on it, he was probably heading towards the roof, and we happened to be in the route he was going.

Wow. Doesn't anyone ever turn around, smile and go "Yo dude, wassup, mang?"
You'd be surprised what an ice-breaker that is. For real.

Posted by Radical_Ed Wow. Doesn't anyone ever turn around, smile and go "Yo dude, wassup, mang?" You'd be surprised what an ice-breaker that is. For real.

+1, I will be trying this next time I run into someone

This post inspired me to do something I've been meaning to do for a while now:


I Photoshopped a stock image to re-create an experience I had exploring an abandoned mill with someone. As we entered the mill, we found ourselves in a small, dark utility room with a staircase leading up behind us. We spent a few minutes talking and getting our camera gear out, taking some test shots of the door we just passed through.

Little did we know, there was someone behind us, sizing us up the entire time. When we finally turned around, this is what we saw... Jason Voorhees, completely motionless and not saying a word. LOL.

Posted by RollingInTheHiggs +1, I will be trying this next time I run into someone

Dude, I don't believe this angle of approach would've helped you one fucking bit in the hair-raising tale you told of the crackheads/free-basers/thugs you encountered. This is really good for the homeless, lonely, mentally unstable, elderly, landowner scenarios though. The again, I'm the prettiest of the ugly assholes I hang with and I'm as hideous as a human can become. I generally have absolutely no problems immersed in the ghetto-ness of my region (Philly/North Jersey, NYC). Looking like you ain't-got-a-pot-to-piss-in helps greatly in this hobby. Try not to shave, wear Goodwill clothes and don't comb your hair. Oh, also be 47 years old and weigh at least 200 pounds. What the Hell, it works for me!