THE chilling world of phrogging has terrified people for years as strangers secretly live in the lofts and basements of unsuspecting homeowners. Horror stories include people watching porn as homeowners sleep – or fully grown adults creeping into the tiniest of wall spaces to spend months undetected and completely hidden. 11CCTV shows one woman climbing down out of an attic after the homeowners left 11And in Australia – this man was found in a crawlspace above the bedrooms 11The moment a man was caught sneaking inside his neighbours house to drill holes into the ceiling of a 10-month-old babies bedroomCredit: Inside Edition 11Phroggers can get into homes in a number of scary ways but often stay in attics, basements or inside the walls of a houseCredit: Inside Edition 11Brayden Woodhouse sneaked into homes and watched porn in the same room as the homeowners as they sleptCredit: Jeff Richards, St. George News / Cedar City News Phrogging is when someone lives in your home without you knowing – and even celebrities have been targeted, including George Michael and Pamela Anderson. The word comes from the idea that a phrogger is similar to how a frog jumps around from place to place. Victims often feel as though someone is watching them sleep, or may find things such as their hairbrushes or tools misplaced around their home as well as food being left out and crumbs littered across the kitchen. Sometimes so-called phroggers simply want a warm and dry place to stay and hide out in someone’s home. read more in unwanted guests But others do it for the thrill – and phrogging forums and chatrooms have exploded online for tips and recommended locations. Phrogging expert Krista Reuther, an educational writer for Turbo Tenant, revealed why people become phroggers and why it’s on the rise. She told The Sun: “The overarching motive is probably desperation and wanting to be somewhere safe but I can imagine it being more of a thrill for because you have an audience some of the phroggers.” Last year, a thrilling documentary series titled Phrogging: Hider in My House featured survivors sharing their most skin-crawling and creepy stories. Films such as I See You and Phrogging were also released and the term was officially added to popular website Urban Dictionary in 2006. Krista believes the reason for the increase in knowledge around the scary subject is down to two reasons. “I think we’re hearing more about it in the media because people are starting to see that this is a pattern versus one off weird behaviours,” she said. “But there are communities online that people go to for phrogging tips and to share locations of places that they’ve been able to stay successfully so that other phroggers can then go and jump in. “So I would also suspect that it’s a crime that’s becoming easier because of the communities forming.” Watching porn In March, a 20-year-old from Cedar City, Utah, was charged with burglary, criminal mischief and trespassing after he was caught watching porn next to the owners of the house he had been staying in overnight. Brayden Woodhouse would go in the house late at night when the residents were asleep and use their devices to watch the filth with them laying feet away. Woodhouse apologised to the homeowners in court for breaking in and “watching porn on your computer in those late nights”. County Attorny Chad Dotson labelled him an “unsettling, midnight intruder who gets pleasure from sneaking around a person’s home while a family sleeps”. Woodhouse avoided jail, but the judge told him: “You’ve victimised a number of people, you’ve damaged their property, you’ve violated their privacy in an intrusive way and you really impacted their sense of safety in their own homes.” The boy in the walls Over the course of several weeks in 1986, Daniel LaPlante – a 16-year-old student – broke into a home and snuck into a tiny crawl space only six inches wide. But LaPlante wasn’t trying to stay hidden and instead wanted the family to know he was in their house and started to torment them. The two young sisters – 15 and nine-years-old – once tried using a ouija board to contact their dead mother but when LaPlante realised what was going on he became the girls frightening ghost. He started knocking on the walls every night for days on end until the girls starting to get scared of the demon in their walls. TV channels were constantly changing, everyday items were being moved and cartons of milk were being mysteriously drunk. Empty bottles of alcohol kept popping up but the worse thing LaPlante did was scrawling disturbing messages like “marry me” and “I’m in your room. Come and find me,” on the walls in mayonnaise and ketchup. A family portrait was also left pinned up on a wall using a knife. LaPlante was discovered by the father in a wardrobe with his face painted, swinging a lethal hatchet. The “boy in the walls” escaped and ran down into the basement where he was eventually caught by the cops. In the later investigation, a tunnel was found from the crawl space to the walls where the boy would move around the house. Several peep holes were also found that LaPlante would use to spy on the young girls and track their movements. Bad intentions A terrifying stranger was reportedly found living in a couple’s home when they returned from vacation as he allegedly wanted to “play doctor” with them. James Campbell, 36, and his wife Brittany, 37, were left stunned when they came face-to-face with Ezequiel Zayas after coming home to him threatening to perform an unwanted surgery on the couple. Brittany told the New York Post: “He wanted to play doctor on us – and not in the cute little kid way.” He allegedly penned a chilling manifesto, which included plans on how to turn the couple into perfect people. The couple unearthed a series of chilling notes on the computer and James said their home was left in “chaos”. Brittany felt “terror” as the pair uncovered Zayas’ alleged plans. She told KHON2: “He violated our family, he violated our home.” ‘Denver’s Spiderman’ Theodore Coneys got nicknamed Spiderman in 1942 by newspapers in Colorado – months after he became a murderous phrogger. Coneys was looking for a place to stay on a mild October night when he sneaked into the home of Philip Peters. Peters caught the tall, disheveled man in his kitchen rummaging around for food. But moments after he confronted him, Coneys took a viscous swing with a cast iron pan and beat the man to death. Neighbours found the body as the suspect apparently vanished into thin air. After nine long months of constant noises coming from the house and a foul stench wafting through the deathly walls, the police stuck two officers outside the home to keep watch. According to reports at the time, the police heard a noise inside the house and ran in to check. They opened a closet door and saw a long pair of legs disappearing through a small opening to the attic before each man grabbed a leg and pulled the killer down. Coneys was taken to a station and admitted he killed Peters in a fight after he was caught looking for food. The pair had known each other through a guitar club in the area. The man was dubbed “Denver’s Spiderman” as the officer who first went into the hell hole said: “A man would have to be a spider to stand it long up there.” Coneys lived in the tiny crawl space in the attic for most of the year and had made himself a nest of to live in. Neighbours constantly reported the smell and the officer who was sent to investigate was violently ill as his head popped up into the attic. 11Theodore Coneys killed a man and then lived in his attic for around nine monthsCredit: Denver public library Krista’s tips to stop phroggers in their tracksPhrogging can be a nightmare situation if you’re the victim of it but there are a few things you can do to avoid them altogether or get rid of them if you’re worried their already in your house. Look out for any signs of an unwanted guest – Keep an eye on food…
The Unsettling Trend of ‘Phrogging’ – Strangers Secretly Living in Your Lofts and Basements for a Thrill, Leaving Bizarre Clues Behind
