Absolutely Chilling Stories
Fear is a powerful emotion. We don’t experience genuine, gut-wrenching terror very often—but when we do, the experience can stick with us for the rest of our lives. But if fear is so horrible, then why do we like ghost stories so much?
Why do we watch horror movies? Fear is a powerful emotion—and sometimes, it means we just can’t look away.
1. Going Up, Going Out
I took care of a lady who had end-stage renal disease, and was minutes away from passing and unresponsive in bed. My charting station was right outside her doorway, and while I was waiting for her only daughter to arrive, I was completing some of my paperwork, in full view of the door to the patient’s room. That’s when a terrifying thing happened.
The daughter finally showed up, very upset, yelling that she wanted me to help get her mother out of the elevator. We both ran to the elevator…that was empty. The daughter and I went into the room as her mother took her last breath.
The daughter swore up and down that she rode in the elevator with her mother from the lobby to the 12th floor.
When they arrived at the 12th floor, her mother told her to go get the nurse to help get her back to her room, and she would wait in the elevator because she was too weak to walk back to her room.
2. Not Feeling Secure At All
I used to work in a small office, which was about 60 people at maximum capacity. We had a security guard on duty 24/7. One night, I had to stay super duper late by myself because I had to leave early the next day and needed to finish my workload.
All of my other co-workers are gone by around 10pm, cleaning crew comes in, and now it's just me and the security guard.
The place is dark, but I'm not at all frightened because I'm not scared of most things, the security guard is a really nice dude, and we're in a safe neighborhood. I was about to find out just how terrifying things could get. The security guards are required to make their rounds every couple of hours just to make sure things are fine. Sometimes they say something to us, most times they don't.
Tonight, nice guy security dude stops by my cubicle and asks, "Everything alright?" Big friendly grin on his face as per usual. "All good here, thanks!" I go back to work. 20 minutes later, he's back again. Big grin. "Everything alright?" "Yup!
Nothing yet!" 20 minutes later…he's back. Big grin. At this point, I am getting a little creeped out.
There is no need for him to come by this frequently. In fact, it's disruptive. But that wasn't even close to all. I also noticed that the way he interacts with me is always exactly the same, as if I were in a time loop. Same big grin, same intonation, same rhythm of speech.
Not only that, I noticed that he whistles the same thing at around the same time, so if I turn off the music on my headphones, I can HEAR his whistling coming closer before he asks, "Everything alright?"
It's around midnight and I'm totally freaked out. I try to rationalize this with myself because I have to get this work done.
I'm rushing through my work and I keep hearing that whistling behind me. Surely, he won't come back again. "Everything alright?"At this point, I'm fully terrified. I no longer trust this guy I used to feel so safe around.
I was a young woman in her mid-20s, and the security guard was a dude in his 50s.
I couldn't finish everything, but I wrote an e-mail to my supervisor saying that the security guard was acting VERY strange and I didn't feel safe. I shut everything down and tried to rush to the exit. I don't run into the security guard…or so I think. Just as I'm feeling free and clear, I hear "Bye now," behind me.
He's standing there in the dark hallway, big grin. Just standing there and watching. I mumble something and sprint to my car. The next day, I rush to my supervisor to try to explain what happened the night before. In the light of day, it kind of felt like I might've overreacted or maybe my mind was playing tricks on me. Then I learned the dark truth.
Turns out, the dude just disappeared. He's missing. I'm pretty sure they still haven't found him to this day. The security guard company just kind of dismissed it as some flaky guy who quit for no reason and no one seemed to be pursuing it much.
He must've been suffering some kind of mental health issue or SOMEthing, but up until that night, he was just a super nice, trustworthy, reliable security guard who everybody loved.
It also felt like some kind of weird paranormal stuff because it really felt like something had "taken over" inside of him.
Pikist
3. Time To Face The Music
We were gathered at the dinner table with some friends and I had been offered a glass of beverage, despite not having been 21 yet at the time. I took it and casually turned to look out the window while drinking it. As soon as I looked out, I suddenly felt a weird sensation as if someone was staring back at me. What I saw made my blood turn cold.
I then spotted a man with no face standing on the sidewalk outside, way off in the distance. He was tall and very thin, but he had no face. There was just a blur where his face should’ve been. I obviously freaked out and let out a scream.
When all the adults turned to me, I stammered trying to explain what I had just seen.
Of course, nobody believed me. They all said I was probably tipsy off of the small sips of grape beverage I had taken, but I know what I saw. I still get this acute sense of dread whenever I think about it.
4. Just The Two Of Us
I pulled into a fast food drive-thru in Odessa, Texas; it was my first time there. When it was my turn at the speaker, I placed my order—it’s been a long drive, so I’m treating myself and being a little picky, asking nicely, and building a customized meal. The cashier listens, then she says the strangest thing. “Again? You ate all that already?”
Me: “Um...huh?” Cashier: “Oh, I’m sorry. Someone who sounds just like you was just through here, and placed the exact same order". Me: “Hey, cool! Weird, but cool”. I get to the window and the girl looks at me with this exasperated expression, opens the window, and says, “It is you!” Me: “?” The cashier calls her manager over and points at me, shows him the order, and says nothing.
Manager: “Welcome back. Was there a problem with your order?” Me: “No...I haven’t gotten it yet”. Manager (clearly confused): “I made your order myself”. The cashier points at the time on receipt. The manager blinks, and says, “
That’s the same order,” to her, looks at me, back at her, and says “and that’s him”. Cashier: “I said the same thing”.
Both of them looked genuinely upset and confused. But it got so much worse. At first, as the manager was handing me my food, he laughed and visibly relaxed. “The other guy had long hair,” he explained, pointing to my cap. “Like, halfway down his back. You just have a twin, I guess...with the same kind of car”. His face when I took off my hat and showed him my long hair...
They might have been messing with me for fun; shifts get long and people are creative. But if it was a game, they deserved careers in theater, because they looked terrified.
