I had a very creepy neighbor once. I actually ended up breaking my lease over how much he creeped me out. He had a bit of an uncanniness about him. It was mainly his pupils, while they were round, I can't really say they were circular. It was almost as if they were being "flexed" into a more round shape than they would naturally look without putting in effort. His eyes were always straining.

There were also the veins...for all the marijuana smell coming from his apartment, his beady little eyes never really had the red hue, it was always a bit more bluish. I don't think he actually smoked marijuana; I always had a gut feeling that the smell was just a cover up for a more sinister smell. His voice was also very strange. We didn't speak much, but when we did, it almost sounded like he was multiple people at once. One time I saw him talking to some other creepily similar looking dude in the hall, and I swear his mouth didn't even move!

He always had people coming in and out of his apartment, though I definitely feel like I've seen more people enter than leave. I'm not exactly sure what they were getting up to in there, but I've always been the "live and let live" type, so I never questioned them. Sometimes I wish I did.

For all his creepy features and haunting presence, nothing can compare to the fear I felt when I went to confront him about some weird chant he was doing late into the night with his creepy friends. I always figured the guy was into occultism, and usually that wouldn't bother me, but it was now midnight and I had to get up early for work.

When I left my apartment to go knock on his door, I noticed a shimmering glow coming from below the gap below. I was a bit scared, but I figured he probably just had the tv on or one of those color changing LED strips.

Then came the smell. It was a chemical smell mixed with putrid marine rot and it grew very intense, causing my sinuses to burn. My eyes began to water profusely as I lifted my hand to knock on the door, but my arm felt too heavy, as did the rest of my body. The walls began to melt and breathe, almost as if I were tripping, and I collapsed on the floor.

As I layed on the ground, the chanting grew louder and stranger; I don't know what they were saying, but the sounds didn't sound like anything humans should be able to produce. Everything in my vision began to melt away into an inky blackness when suddenly the chanting was accompanied by some strange piping instrument sound and the monstrous pounding beating of drums. I shrieked out in pain as the heavy gravity faded and my very blood felt as if it were starting to crystallize.

Have you ever been shocked so badly you couldn't move? That's sort of what it felt like when I lost total control of my body and began to twist and contort into a hellish dance. I don't know how long I painfully danced to that horrible eldritch symphony alone in the blackness; I went completely mad as time began to lose all meaning. The piping and drumming got so loud that I thought the sound would tear my flesh apart. That's when I felt the daemonic presence of something truly horrible beyond comprehension looming just over my head. Suddenly, I was completely overcome with a pain that felt like every single cell in my body was crystallizing and I felt the strangest mix of fear and nostalgia. I did not want to look up, but I had no choice.

By the mercy of god, I have no recollection of what happened after this. All I remember is my head starting to turn towards the sky. Then I blacked out. I woke up in my kitchen at 12:01 am, only about a minute after the time I got up to go confront my neighbor, and there was no more chanting or sound. I nervously got up and peaked out my door, not sure whether or not I should feel relieved at the lack of light and smell coming from under the neighbors door. I quit my job that day and moved back home within a week.

I wish I could forget that experience, but I still hear that rhythm sometimes when it's quiet. I have also been sleepwalking every now and then since that night. I set up a camera once. When I checked the footage and saw myself doing that hellish dance, and vowed to never record myself again. The worst reminder, however, is my new boss who has the same weird eye thing going on.