Woman Alone in Cabin in Woods Hears 'Scratching'—Disbelief at the Source

A woman vacationing in a remote cabin decided to investigate after hearing scratching noises coming from outside, and the footage she filmed has now gone viral. Solo travel is an increasingly popular option for those looking to vacation on their own terms. A 2023 Statista survey of 2,337 adults aged 25 and over found that 66 percent cited a desire to "see the world" and "not wait for others" as their main motivation. Similarly, 57 percent expressed an eagerness to "do what I want when I want" as the key reason. However, solo travel does have its drawbacks, not least for the skittish among us. A strange noise or bump in the night might be explained away by a fellow traveler, but those vacationing solo and of the nervous persuasion are left to dwell on such incidents without counsel. It is always better to tackle this kind of thing head on, though, as the example of Kezia Tan, from Singapore, demonstrates. She had a strange encounter during a recent trip to Bali. "I had booked a cabin in the woods, and started to hear scratching noises outside," she told Newsweek. In a video posted to TikTok under the handle @keziadsf, Tan captured the moment when, after hearing the noises three times, she decided to confront whatever it was out there. In the clip, Tan can be seen stepping out onto the decking where she begins to make a noise, evidently thinking whatever is out there is an animal who can be coaxed out from his hiding place.

Those instincts are correct, as a large lizard emerges from under the cabin and darts off into the undergrowth. The reptile's sudden appearance helped Tan's video go viral with over 10.6 million views and counting. Many of those watching were stunned at what they had seen. "What that a dinosaur?" one viewer asked, with another commenting: "if i heard scratches outside i am opening NO doors." A third user posted, "The way it lifted his head and skedaddled," with a fourth adding: "this was straight out of a cartoon." Tan, for her part, was not all that bothered by the creature's sudden appearance and was even able to identify it as a monitor lizard. "We have a lot of monitor lizards where I'm from in Singapore," Tan said. "This was in Bali, so seeing this was really not that big of a surprise for me. I just thought it looked really cute scampering around like a little burglar." Even so, Tan felt the setup and encounter were worthy of documenting for followers online; and she was correct. Despite some being perturbed by the video, Tan was keen to stress the monitor lizard posed no threat to her. "They are quite harmless," she said. "They kind of mind their own business and stay away from people. This one was trying to get to the closed bin outside, so I suspect it was looking for food." Even so, that explanation is likely to offer little comfort in the event that someone finds themselves home alone with scratching noises coming from outside. Do you have any funny videos or pictures you want to share? We want to see the best ones! Send them in to life@newsweek.com and they could appear on our site.