Friends thought they were camping alone – until they watched back footage from their trip

There are countless movies about young people venturing out to the middle of nowhere for a “fun trip” only to see it descend into horror (think ‘The Cabin in the Woods’, ‘The Evil Dead’ and, of course, ‘The Blair Witch Project’).

So imagine how you’d feel if you went on a camping jolly to a remote area with one of your friends only to discover that you may not have been as alone as you’d thought…

This is what allegedly happened to TikTok user Carter Booth (@carterbooth) who shared a video of his mate building a fire as they enjoyed a night under the stars.

Panning around to capture a glimpse of the scenery, it all seems pretty wholesome and unremarkable, until you take note of the caption to the clip.

“My friend and I went camping alone, but we saw this when we watched the footage…,” Booth wrote.

“Never been so disturbed,” he added in a separate comment. And, indeed, if you look closely, you’ll see why he was left so shaken…

Lurking in the darkness and emerging from behind a rock is what appears to be the figure of a person watching over the two campers.

(Scroll to the six-second mark and see if you can spot them:)

The video sent shivers down the spines of more than 4.4 million viewers in just five days, racking up more than 205,800 likes and thousands of comments.

“You meant to say ‘my friend and I went camping alone but we SAW A MAN STANDING AT [THE] TOP OF [A] ROCK when we watched the footage,” one horrified TikToker wrote.

“I couldn’t find it and I’m keeping it that way; y’all stay safe though,” said another.

A third added simply: “Bruh, I’m done. Bye.”

Eagle-eyed viewers spotted at least one figure amid the darkeness @carterbooth/TikTok

Meanwhile, a number of commentators remarked that they could see more than just one mysterious figure lurking in the gloom.

“There’s two! But there might be one more in the shadows underneath the top two. If you look closely and slow it down. [I don’t know] maybe I’m tripping,” one wrote.

And others made light of the situation, with one saying: “It’s the friend they didn’t invite,” and another joking: “That’s the bro with the beers.”

One sceptic suggested the whole thing was staged, writing: “Hmmm why would [you] tilt the camera that high and go back down to nothing? I don’t trust this one.”

Even so, we think we’ll stick to a busy campsite next time we decide to get our tents out…