Help! Neighbor's mysterious and creepy garage noises.

[JoshN]

First-time WSB poster here. A friend recommended I post this matter here.

Directly across the alley behind my house is my neighbor’s garage which is an unattached building separate from his house where he’s lived for only 6-ish months. For the last several weeks I’ve been hearing some truly mysterious sounds coming from his garage. It sounds mechanical yet human and is sometimes downright creepy. It’s not loud, so it’s not exactly disruptive other than being pretty hair-raising. I’m relatively certain it’s not a TV or radio. There are no windows on the building and the only door appears to be sealed shut. I seriously don’t even know how he’s getting in there.

Last week my neighbor Lee and I knocked on the sealed door (not sure where else to knock). The noises stopped and didn’t reappear for several days. Now they’re back and creepy as f*ck. It sounds like if you blended the sound of an elastic material being stretched with the occasional muffled fluid running and stressed nature sounds. There are no noticeable odors that I can detect.

Also weird: we never saw him move in. While the house was previously unoccupied it was never for sale or on the market (that I know of). I initially noticed the house was occupied again because of a car parked in the driveway along with a few worn-out yard toys, and the occasional inside light. Oh, and a small Trump sign in a side window which has since been removed.

I’ll try to record audio the next time I hear it and post here. I just want to know what he’s doing in there. Any advice is most appreciated.

Josh

Share This

[TanDL]

Geez Josh… Sort of sounds like you might be the creepy person trying to spy on what your neighbors are doing. Why don’t you knock on his front door and introduce yourself. Welcome this person into your neighborhood and get to know him before you assume creepiness. Could be that raccoons or possums or other have moved into that garage at night. Could be he has a legitimate hobby. Could be that a homeless person lives in there and the house occupant knows nothing about it. Maybe he’s creating a nice Christmas present for you. Could be a water pump. There are myriads of possibilities. My advice would be to give this person the benefit of the doubt first, reach out in genuine friendship and let the chips fall where they may. And what the heck does removal of a Trump sign have to do with anything that might be your business?

Share This

[G R]

Josh – It’s a good thing that you are aware of what’s going on in your neighborhood. See (hear) something, say something. Take a buddy and introduce yourself and ask point blank what the weird noise is. You never know could be innocent or cause for alarm.

Share This

[JoshN]

TanDL – As I mentioned, I have tried to introduce myself. A few times, in fact. So has my neighbor. If I wasn’t giving him the benefit of the doubt I would have acted on this a long time ago.

Trust me – if you heard these awful sounds you’d be curious, too (which is different than spying which I’m not).

But, yes, I agree that the sounds are likely innocuous.

Or are they?

I don’t care if he voted for Trump once or 40 times; I mention that detail only as one of the few pieces of evidence which told me someone is living there again. I guess I could have left that out, though.

I like your possibility that he could be making me a Christmas present, but now this means I have to get HIM something. What do you get a man you don’t even know? What size is he? Maybe CLick will have something nifty.

Share This

[SeattleGrrl]

If the person won’t answer your attempts to introduce themselves, leave them a very friendly and polite note on their door or in the mailbox. Could be legit what they are doing, but if it is the resident of the place, and it isn’t, that might make them stop because they don’t want the attention.

Share This

[TanDL]

Fruit and nuts basket.

Share This

[sunshine]

Tom Waits had the same question! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JaLjwSpZ6Cs

Share This

[newnative]

omg, Sunshine. That is EXACTLY what I was going to post!!!!

Share This

[Jeannie]

Josh, I think your concerns are reasonable and legit. A note is a good idea. If what your neighbor is doing is totally innocuous, he would likely respond to your note. If he hasn’t responded to your knocks (understandable) and doesn’t respond to your note, well, you might have reason to be concerned.
No one wants to be a nosy neighbor, but we do have to watch out for each other.

Share This

[anonyme]

Agree with Jeannie. I think JoshN’s concerns are worth looking into, with or without direct contact with this neighbor. It sounds like a torture chamber! Have any neighbors gone missing?

Share This

[Higginshere]

This problem is easily solved. Forget leaving notes or knocking on doors. If you think you hear a human or animal voice that sounds like suffering in any way, then call the cops to have them investigate. That’s their job. If it turns out that your neighbors are just bad musicians (or involved in some such innocent activity), then you can ignore them with peace of mind or ask to join them and play the cowbell.

Share This

[2 Much Whine]

Ten bucks says it’s a time machine. He’s either going back to a time when America was great or forward in time 2 or 3 years to the post-apocalypse.

Share This

[JoB]

any question for which a Tom Waits video is the answer is well worth reading ;-)

Share This

[AJP]

HA! Was going to say he might be a Tom Waits fan!

Share This

[aa]

I agree with the suggestion to talk to the police. Obviously not a 911 situation, but that is what they are there for. If something bad is going on its not safe to snoop around. Just go ahead and ask for help. Why prolong it unless you just want the drama of this story to tell as a way of getting people worked up and some attention.

Share This

[AJP]

Foley artist?

Share This

[22blades]

It’s like the guy who “moves” into our neighborhood. Everybody’s wondering what this guy’s about. He doesn’t introduce himself to anyone. One day, his place gets hit by a thief in broad daylight so he comes on WSB to “Alert” us about our neighborhood. We still don’t know what he looks like but we figure he’s here just to flip the house because no one sleeps in the house. We’ll care about him about as much as he cares about us. A little bit of social skills goes a long ways.

Share This

[waynster]

its called n.o.y.b……None of your business…..!!!! unless spd needs involvement call them …you all don’t need to be nosy…if you want to be friends with your neighbors is one thing just flat out being nosy is another…..

Share This

[PangolinPie]

I agree with those who say you’re right to be concerned. I keep thinking of the guy who kidnapped those girls and kept them in his basement for YEARS. He even had multiple children with them. Some of the neighbors knew there was something going on, but no one took the time to inquire. Not saying this is what’s going on in this case, but wouldn’t you feel awful if someday it turns out to be a horrible situation that you could have done something about?

Share This

[jissy]

I say listen to your gut, JoshN — what is your gut saying? Actually I think it’s quite clear it’s saying something b/c I think you’ve come on here looking for validation to pursue a call to SPD. Forget the MYOB folks, it’s always better to be safe than sorry. I know I might be in the minority here but if I was said neighbor, I would be pleased (I think?) that there were people actually paying attention and a minor annoyance to clear this up would be, “Ah, whatever.”

Share This

[DFW]

I love a good mystery, so I confess I love this thread. I agree with others — in my contact with local law enforcement through Blockwatch groups and such, they emphasized that this is what they are there for. They WANT you to call. Just give them a tip, let them know even if you feel silly about it, but also that it’s unsettling enough that it’s been bothering you. They will respond and they won’t identify you.

I would love an update on how this turned out — without identifying anyone, of course, as it could be totally mundane. We actually have a couple air compressors in our garage that occasionally switch on when no one is in there — they are set to automatically regulate their air pressure, so they’ll turn on to regulate every once in awhile. I’m sure it sounds very weird to our neighbors, too (though nothing like you are describing).

Good luck!
Sincerely,
Mrs. Kravitz

Share This

[mskravitz2]

I too as DFW aka Mrs. Kravitz asked…I would like to know how this turns out and as others say “call the Police” that’s what they are here for.

Share This

[DFW]

We Kravitz ladies gotta stick together. ; )

Share This

[mskravitz.2]

Yes we do!
;>)

Share This

[mark47n]

I love the Tom Waits reference!

A possibility that I’ve not seen yet: a dungeon! Yes, kinky people build dungeons in basements, garages and any other place they can fit them. Perhaps they didn’t expect their neighbor to be prowling about in the alley.

There are many different possibilities that are perfectly innocuous and I sort of surprised that so many jump right to the nefarious.

If it’ll help you sleep better at night call the cops but don’t expect anything to change. After all, your the one prowling around in the alley eavesdropping on the garage. Unless there’s a passel of teenage girls being kept in purdah…nope, this just fails the razor of my pal Occam.

Share This

[Author]

Posts