ORIGIN: United States
The urban legend of The Man in the Window has circulated across various cultures, but is well-known in suburban and rural parts of the United States.
It preys on a common fear— the idea that someone is watching you, especially from the supposed safety of your own home.
The story revolves around a person, usually a woman or child, who begins to feel uneasy at night.
They feel that someone is watching them and when they glance toward their window, they catch a glimpse of a someone, just standing there, watching.
Sometimes he is described as wearing a hood, or having a featureless face, but he vanishes before they can react.
What makes the legend more terrifying is that, in some versions, the person later realizes that the man wasn't outside the window—
He was inside the house all along, watching them through the reflection of the glass.
In other retellings, the man is seen night after night, until he finally stops coming… and the person goes missing.