Everyone loves a good horror story, but what happens when the nightmares from the big screen show up in real life? Whether it’s creeps in the alley or phantoms in the attic, real encounters with things that go bump in the night are far scarier than anything Hollywood could dream up. The Reddit folks below will never forget their hair-raising experiences.
1. Man Down
When I used to be a security guard on the night shift, my poor sleep habits often caused me to experience minor visual disturbances. One night, while on patrol, I felt really disoriented. I started catching flickers of movement out of the corner of my eye, but I figured my brain was simply playing tricks on me.
I was assigned to a site with a large warehouse storing hazardous materials. It was mostly dark, save for one light. As I went about my duties, I noticed a ghostly figure on the ground. I immediately identified it as a human body. Fear surged through me, causing me almost to black out. I momentarily lost my train of thought, before I managed to gather my wits again.
On closer examination, what appeared to be a body was actually a CPR dummy, left behind by the workers for training purposes.
2. Sneaking Around
As a cop, I once got a call around 1 am about a suspicious activity. The homeowners claimed they saw two people in masks in a yard nearby. It was too late after Halloween to assume it was just leftover from the festivities. Upon reaching, nothing was out of order and the people who called didn't seem like they were under influence or delusional. We had no one what we were in for.
Calls similar to these turn out to be either a hoax or someone hallucinating. Anyway, we got called by the same address once again after an hour. Now while the dispatcher stayed on call with them, my team and I started to surround the place. Five of us were perfectly positioned when we were told that the intruders were seen moving into the shed...guess where I was standing.
Calling out to them yielded no response so I decided to break in. But found no one inside. I even checked for hidden exits but nothing; the shed was only four inches off the ground. When I discussed it with the residents, they stated that as I approached the shed, the trespassers put a finger on their lips indicating 'be quiet', and waved, before disappearing into the shed.
These events left us utterly confused. The people who called us had never pranked us before. Now, I'm not one to believe in anything supernatural, but that night was something which didn't make any sense at all.
3. A Fruitless Romance
I went back to my old town for a visit and thought I'd grab my high school buddy for dinner and a chat. He seemed pretty strung out and shared that his former girlfriend, whom he broke up with two years ago, was stalking and bothering him. After dinner, I dropped him home as a light rain started falling.
When we reached his place, we spotted a bag tied to my car's side mirror, probably placed there during our time at the restaurant. Inside was a poor quality picture of a tree taken in the dark with flash. Accompanying the photo was a short note, clearly from his ex. It read, "Our first love letter is buried under this tree. It's growing from our love".
I made sure my buddy safely entered his house before I sped off.
4. Listen Up
While trekking along a solitary trail in the far north of Wisconsin with my pup leading the way, I suddenly felt a bit unsettled. Simultaneously, my dog's fur stood on end and he started acting quite jittery. Moments later, we entered a forest glade and I was engulfed by what felt like a sonic boom.
It sounded like someone cranked up a bass speaker right next to me in this supposed wilderness. Mind you, the closest road was about a mile away. Something instinctual urged me to hotfoot it out of there. Without wasting a moment, I turned tail and picked up the pace back along the trail. While the bass-like noise faded as I left the glade, for quite a stretch, I couldn't shake off the eerie feeling of being followed.
5. Sweet Dreams
About 15 years back, I had a summer gig working for the US Forest Service out in western Colorado. I was staying alone in an old ranger shack. One evening, I dreamt of someone wandering around the cabin while I was tucked in bed. But that wasn't the most chilling part. The next morning, I found the front door ajar. From then onwards, I made sure to keep a sort of protection handy while sleeping for the rest of the season.
6. Artificial Intelligence
Back in the mid-90s, my brother and I were likely around seven and five years old. We had a habit of waking up early every weekend to indulge in some computer gaming before mom and dad stirred. One morning, we fired up the computer, only to be confronted by an ominous message tailored for us. It read: "Hi, Kid A and Kid B. Your computer here, and guess what? I. AM. ALIVEEEEE. Don't bother yelling for your parents—they can't rescue you now!!"!
In the end, we found out it was our dad who had cleverly programmed the computer to show that message upon booting up.
7. Emergency!
When I was a high school senior and early in my college years, I served as an EMT in a small village near New York City. One night, our team was the primary emergency service for our own village and the two neighboring ones, as they were temporarily unavailable. One of these neighboring towns wasn't the safest. Usually, the authorities would get to the scene first, but not this time.
That night, there was a fire and some investigation happening elsewhere in the town. This meant resources were spread thin. Then a call came in—a young man with a face injury needed help at a private home, and he was in the backyard.
Our dispatcher told us no law enforcement authorities or EMTs were available. It was just me and my driver. Although that's usual in many situations, I felt uneasy. We arrived at the scene—an apartment complex with a backyard accessible by car.
My driver pulled in, and we noticed the patient sitting in the shadows like he was hiding. I felt something was strange, so I turned on the ambulance's floodlights, and they illuminated the yard. Suddenly, we saw seven men armed with baseball bats and tire irons standing in what had been complete darkness.
We quickly retreated, my driver reversing out of there. I called for immediate backup on the radio. We later learnt these guys planned to ambush us, take our ambulance's drugs, and take the vehicle for a spin. To this day, I shudder at the thought of what might have happened if we had approached the patient directly.
8. The Hunter
Our usually calm black Labradors jarred me awake with a ferocious, growling bark that I'd never heard before. There was a distinct air of aggression and fear in their barks. My bedroom was on the ground floor of our countryside home, which was surrounded by large commons and woods at the back.
Walking into the kitchen, I found the dogs staring intensely at the back door, clearly unsettled. This instantly put me on edge, and their fear was infectious. Grasping a flashlight, I mentally prepared myself. Suspecting a possible intruder, I picked up a fire poker for protection before cautiously opening the back door. It was pitch black outside, and the sight of the open door sent both dogs scurrying into the adjacent room.
With cautious curiosity, I stuck my head and flashlight out the back door. In only a fraction of a second, I caught the glint of a large animal's eyes reflecting back from my garden, about ten meters away. The eyes blinked and then vanished as the creature disappeared into the night. There's truly nothing in England that could explain such a sight.
In nervous response, I hastily shut the door and decided to share my room with the dogs for the night. Not long after this incident, I read a chilling news article in the local paper. It reported several unexplained sheep maulings on a farm just a couple of kilometers from our own. The sheep were completely torn apart, suggesting the work of a large predator.
9. Order Up
Sometimes, elderly gentlemen can be quite unsettling. I spent roughly three and a half years working at my neighborhood Dairy Queen. While I genuinely enjoyed the vibe, the patrons could occasionally be overwhelming. Surprisingly enough, they only recruited female employees. During my first year, at the age of 16 and freshly trained, I had an encounter with an older gentleman who was with his wife.
After she placed her order, she gestured towards him, implying it was his turn. With a kind demeanor, I asked, "What would you like to order, sir"? He replied, "I'll take two of you young lasses to go please", nearly causing me to shudder as he followed up with a wink. It did feel rather uncomfortable.
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10. Never Alone
I live out in the sticks, and it's funny how BOTH my pooches suddenly become absorbed in something and dart to a spot in our yard. They're laser-focused, highly alert, with their fur standing straight and growling... but there's utterly nothing there. Nothing at all! And they aren't peering down or digging around. They're looking upwards. Fast forward a few weeks, and the same thing happens, only in a different part of the property.
I've been around this place for a long time now and even the newcomer dogs do the same thing. There's definitely something here with us.
11. Family Reunion
When I was eight years old, I was sitting the dining room, sketching at the kitchen table. Suddenly, I heard a voice that sounded just like my mom's, "Hello, Ryan". I swung around to my left, expecting to see her, but it was something much worse. I was met with a distinct, full-bodied shadowy figure, about three meters away from me. I was utterly shocked and stared at it mutely for about 10 seconds.
The shadow figure then turned to its left and vanished through the wall. I got up quickly and headed in the opposite direction, into the living room where my brother was busy with his homework. Noticing my distress, he asked, "What's wrong"? "I saw a ghost," I stammered. Surprisingly, he responded with, "Is that who called you"?—a detail I hadn't shared with him.
One possibility for the identity of the shadow person could be my late grandmother. She had passed on from lung cancer eight months prior to this event. Her voice was quite similar to my mom's. She used to take care of me as a baby, although I never got to know her very well. The last time I saw her was during the final stages of her illness, and she was in quite a bad state.
My only memory of my grandmother is from her last days. What strikes me as very odd about this entire incident is the effort it must have taken for her to manifest in that form and to speak out. Moreover, the message she chose to convey after gathering all that energy was simply a "hello". It all seems so uncanny.
12. Curious Casper
I live quite secluded, about an hour away from the closest grocery store. A couple of months ago, I was resting in my recliner, attempting to fall asleep. Suddenly, my eyes bolted open and I saw an ominous, dark figure just beyond the edge of my chair. It bent over at the waist and tweaked its neck oddly as if trying to come eye-to-eye with me.
I freaked out slightly, all I could manage to utter was a frantic "What, what, WHAT"! Then the figure vanished. For a moment, I thought it could be a dream. But then, I noticed my German Shepherd cowering under the footrest of the recliner, a behavior he had never shown in his six years of life. And he continued to do so for a few weeks afterwards.
13. Wrong Number
I was out camping by myself in the heart of North Dakota's plains. Suddenly, a storm rolled in and I found myself holed up in my tent under a few trees, feeling quite uneasy. I had two phones with me then—one with internet for navigation purposes, and the other solely for making and receiving calls. Out of the blue, one of my phones began to ring.
Curiously, I checked the caller ID. The incoming call was apparently from my second phone, which was shut and right there in my hand.
14. All Stuffed Up
I had quite a fright last night. I came down with a terrible cold last week during my Boston trip and it's been really rough. I've been hacking and producing more mucus than I'd like to admit. It's been hard to get a good night's sleep. Apparently, I've been coughing throughout the night, despite thinking I was sound asleep. So, I've moved to a different room to let my significant other sleep in peace.
Last night, I woke up suddenly, gasping for air. I totally couldn't breathe. Not the type where you're just congested—I was literally choking with no air getting into my lungs. I think I must have rolled onto my back and my airways got clogged with mucus.
I got up, still gasping, and darted to the main bedroom but even then, I couldn't get any air in. It felt like forever. I felt like I was underwater or being choked, unable to take a simple breath.
After what must have been about 45 seconds, I was finally able to breathe just a bit as the mucus shifted and I could get some air which started a coughing fit. I was terrified and sobbing, thinking I might not make it. It reminded me of my friend who passed last year in his sleep due to what was thought to be just a plain flu.
He was only 37, and there I was, thinking I might die from a silly cold. I can't even imagine how this would've played out if I was 60 or 80, or had been unwell from lifestyle choices or another underlying condition. I might not have been around to share my story this morning.
15. Mockingbird
I used to live on a five-acre plot of land, surrounded by a cow pasture on all sides. I always used to entertain my indoor dogs with playful little songs. One of the tunes I'd sing was the nursery rhyme "Daisy, Daisy". Usually, I'd sing these songs inside the house because that's where my dogs are most of the time. But one fresh autumn night, as I was at home, alone with my windows thrown open, I heard something.
It was a faint, deep whistling sound. The tune they were whistling? It was "Daisy, Daisy". Whomever or whatever it was, they were whistling the tune slowly, with intention. Once they reached the end of the song, the whistling suddenly ceased. I was too spooked to peer outside. And to this day, I still don't know what caused that eerie sound.
16. A Cry For Help
About ten months ago, I experienced an eventful night due to a severe snowstorm. Roads were off-limits, and everyone was instructed to stay home unless they were medical personnel handling emergencies. Exhausted from shoveling snow all day, I could only manage to eat dinner and hit the hay.
I passed the time watching some classic Star Trek until I dozed off. A couple of hours later, I found myself awakened around 1 am by a mysterious sound of a door shaking and an under-the-breath whisper calling my name. I realized it was emerging from my parents' room and the sound was gradually fading. I plucked up my courage, after lingering around for about 10 minutes, to investigate this peculiar occurrence.
Equipped with a basic folding blade, I cautiously nudged open the door and slinked inside. It was pitch-dark, and my vision was blurry. As I trudged in the darkness, something tugged at my leg which spooked me. Amidst hushed whispers, I heard something even more terrifying. I recognized my father's voice pleading for help. It turned out he had a stroke en route to the bathroom. After collapsing, his left foot rattling the bathroom door was his only way to alert me.
My mom, out cold on the living room couch, couldn't render rescuing assistance. I hastily dialed emergency services and, miraculously, despite the terrible weather, help arrived within 10 minutes. That night went down as the most frightening one of my life. My dad had a hemorrhagic stroke, causing significant blood loss, and the doctors were not optimistic about his survival odds.
Fast forward 10 months, my dad's cognition remained intact, despite being paralyzed on his right side. He battled numerous infections while in the hospital but nonetheless soldiered on and is still with us today. My father had always been my best friend, but this incident solidified him as my hero.
17. Stranger Danger
Back when I was 16 in the mid-90s, I squabbled with a friend at their house one time when we all were chilling. It was a silly argument and I can't recall what sparked it, but I thought, “Forget it, I’m going home”. My house was a few miles away, and without a car and no buses running at 2 am, I was left with no choice.
So, there I was, resolved to trek home...in the middle of the night, across a neighborhood that wasn't as safe as you'd think, as a small 16-year-old girl. Looking back, my pals either didn’t think I'd actually do it or the sudden outburst had left them too stunned to realize I was serious. I left the house without missing a beat.
A mile in, the suburban backdrop gave way to a major road with a highway nearby. That's when I noticed an unfamiliar greyish minivan tailing me. It would lurk behind, speed past, turn at a corner, and a few blocks later, the sequence would repeat. It was too noticeable to ignore.
Opting for precaution, I crossed the street so I was moving counter to the flow of traffic and no car could sneak up from behind. But the van continued its strange antics, just from the other side of the street. Around a mile later, I spotted a 24/7 convenience store. It had bright lights, but a somewhat deserted parking lot.
Without missing a beat, I dashed across the lot aiming for the store. As I neared the doors, the tailing minivan rolled into one of the parking spaces. A man on the driver's side hollered, "Don't come closer, stay there. I just wanted you to know why I was doing this”.
He went on, “I saw you walking a while ago and noticed a suspicious dark car trailing you. Whenever you turned or stopped, it moved to a side street but kept pace. Witnessing this, I decided to tail you both, to ensure your safety. Step inside the store and ring someone to pick you up, please. I haven't seen the car after you crossed the lot".
He stuck around until I was safely inside, then drove off. I had no one to ring, so I spilled the beans with the night cashier and hung around for about an hour and a half. Then I continued my walk home. I've never forgotten that event or that stranger. I never spotted the dark car he talked about, but I've always believed that his presence that night saved me.
18. Intruder Alert!
I was out-of-state for work when my home security camera alarm went off late at night. Through drowsy eyes, I saw a hazy bright spot acting all weird in the lower left of the screen. Picturing a burglar waving a flashlight in my house, I was spooked—it was near midnight and there I was, holed up in a hotel hundreds of miles away. I don't believe in ghosts, but your mind can play tricks on you at such times.
Rather than making a futile call to the authorities and feeling embarrassed, I used the speaker function of the camera to shout, "Back off! The authorities are on their way"! But the strange light seemed indifferent. So, I ended up just staring at it from my quiet hotel room until it disappeared. The same happened the next two nights.
When I played the footage to my workmates, they jumped to the conclusion that it was a ghost. I had the pet sitter scout out the house for any footprints in the fresh snow, but she found zilch. I arrived home to find everything as I had left it. But then I had an unsettling realization. I had to sleep there with the "ghostly" light.
So, after sundown, it became my mission to figure out what it was. It only took two nights for me to unravel the mystery. We'd had a severe winter, and I had followed a web hack to throw rock salt in a pair of tights up into the gutters to ward off ice dams. One of the hang-down strings had a little ice gem on it.
This tiny ice gem was swaying in the wind and throwing back the driveway light into the house. Not spooky at all now. But, let me tell you, when you're far from home and you see some spectral light in your house, it can really give you a chill down your spine, I can promise you that!
19. Bed Buddies
There have been several instances where I've awoken during the night, fully convinced I could see a silhouette in my room, until I switched on my bedside lamp. This often alarms me, but there was this one time that sticks out in my memory. I woke up thinking I spotted a small figure lurking near the foot of my bed. I simply told it, "Leave me alone, I'm attempting to get some sleep".
Then, I turned back to the soothing warmth of my pillow. Apparently, my demand was effective because it never appeared to occupy my bed again.
20. If Walls Could Talk
I was alone at home, seated in what used to be my sister’s room—our current home office. At 19, I was hammering out a paper for college on the desktop. The room still had my sister's flair—a photo of mountains, a mirror like an egg, and wall plaques spelling out "faith", "hope", and "love".
Out of the blue, I felt an eerie chill. It was often frigid in there, but this chill was different. Right after that freeze, everything on the room walls crashed to the floor all at once. It gave me the creeps but things took an even worse turn. I left the room and found that EVERYTHING on the house walls had toppled.
Not just the family photos and trophies from my younger days of sports, but even a decorative candle stand was lying on the floor. I was at a loss. So, I gathered all the fallen things and rehung them, which took me a good 15-20 minutes. After that, I headed to campus to finish up my paper. I never let my parents in on this mysterious incident.
21. Let Me In
When I was just a little eight-year-old, living in a super remote part of Appalachia, I was cozied up on the couch with my dad one wintery, snow-dusted night. We were watching Sightings, this old 90's show about alien visitations that made my skin crawl. Out of nowhere, during the show, we heard a distinct knock, knock, knock, coming from the window.
Remember, it's pitch-dark outside so whatever's knocking can see us while we were totally blind to it. Papa told me to stay put, phone in hand, and rushed out with his flashlight to investigate, locking the door behind him. He told me, if he didn't return in five minutes, I should dial the authorities.
I was scared stiff. After making a round of the house, Dad came back seeming nonchalant, dismissing it as some animal. But right after, he sneaked the phone into another room and called his best buddy to come and have a look. He thought I was totally absorbed in the TV show, but I was all ears.
I overheard him say, "I'm telling you, it was like someone was knocking on our window wanting to come in, but there were no footprints". It still gives me the chills, even now that I'm well into my 30s.
22. The Playful Poltergeist
A few years ago, my aunt and uncle moved into an old 19th-century house located in a small town in Maine. It was quite the Stephen King-esque scene. Their neighbors gave them a heads up about past eerie happenings. And sure enough, since settling in, they've reported a series of peculiar happenings. For instance, a strong aroma of chocolate would fill the kitchen even though no one was cooking. Not to mention the strange relocation of household items.
My aunt, who is a retired school principal, keeps a number of old files stored away in a basement cabinet. During one of my stays, I woke to find one of these files under my bed—strange because it's a bit of a hurdle getting to that cabinet, with all the camping kit and old furniture blocking the way.
Occasionally, there were unaccounted-for banging noises. But the incident that stands out for me was when my uncle's meds went missing. In frustration, my aunt sternly asked the presumed "ghost" to not mess with his medication. Remarkably, the pills were later found standing upright under the bed—an unlikely result of simply rolling underneath. That was the last of the med disturbances.
The ghost, so far, seems to be harmless, perhaps even a little mischievous. We've decided to humorously tag the spirit as "Gracie the Ghost".
23. Questionable Circumstances
In one of the most unsettling events of my life, I was having dinner with my family when I was about eight years old. My mom unexpectedly shared a chilling comment, "It took me months to get the traces of your father's blood off the wall. The stench was lingering and deeply unpleasant". She then appeared to lose herself in her thoughts, not seeming to realize how disturbing her words were.
My father took his own life shortly after he and my mom separated. It happened in our apartment's kitchen while we were visiting our grandparents. Curiously, the heat in the apartment was also cranked up high at the around the same time. He wasn't discovered for several weeks, so it must've been an awful sight.
I have this feeling that my mom was mentally scarred by this experience and that it somewhat clouded her judgement of what's appropriate to share with a child. I even sometimes speculate whether there was foul play involved, maybe that's why the heat was so high. It could also explain why no one checked on a man known to be suffering and alone, not attending work, and missing his therapy sessions for weeks.
In the very least, it possibly shows neglect. There are moments when I find it hard to embrace my mom, with these lingering doubts about her possible involvement in my father's tragic fate. I'm well aware of her cunning side. But in the end, I can't know for sure. I understand the pain and anger of being accused of something I know I didn't do. So, I try to let go of my suspicions.
24. The Observer
So, back in my high school days, I remember one night in winter when I was home alone upstairs on the computer chatting with a pal on AOL Instant Messenger. All of a sudden, I got this creepy feeling like I had company or was being watched.
I ventured downstairs and peeked around—our back door that led into the sunroom was wide open. It was bone-chillingly cold outside and I was home alone—but there was that open door. Completely freaked out, I dashed to the kitchen and grabbed a hefty cleaver, yelling stuff like "I know you're there! Law enforcement is on their way"!
I then swept through the house, making sure no one could slip past me—at least, that was the plan. Upon finding no one, I thought maybe the door had been improperly secured and a gust of wind blew it open. I managed to calm myself down fairly quickly. But that same night, a horrifying crime took place just five houses down from me.
A woman was tied up in her own bedroom by a guy who threatened her life. The exact details escape me, but somehow she broke free and alerted the authorities. The perp was never caught. Even now I can't be sure if someone had been in my house that evening, but the coincidental timing has always seemed a bit too eerie.
25. Deja Vu
While heading for our camping adventure, I spotted a classic, colorfully decorated car, adorned with Muppets and all sorts of things—a clear sign it belonged to an eccentric individual not gifted in the art of speedy driving. However, without any pause, we found ourselves again overtaking the same vehicle about 40 minutes later.
26. Into The Void
Once during high school, my pencil slipped off my desk and just vanished. I'm serious. I’m pretty sure nobody sneakily picked it up as a prank. I believe I would've noticed that, besides the people near me weren't the joking type. I swept a generous area around my desk on the chance that it had ricocheted off the eraser. Nope.
I saw it slowly roll off the edge of my desk and I promptly bent over to pick it up, but...it was nowhere. My feelings progressed from irritation to confusion to slight unease within the next half hour, as I checked for it every so often but came up short. I’ve since devised a theory that it was swallowed by some glitch in the matrix.
27. Crypt Keeper
I stay in a quaint, semi-rural town that's got homes and shops, but it's also surrounded by wide open fields. The area's rich with historic treasures from the Neolithic and Bronze Age periods, about 1,000 of them within a five-mile stretch. One of these is an ancient grave that's now open—its contents have been transferred to a museum. One day, I hopped in for a snapshot, and my usually calm black Lab went wild.
He suddenly was on high alert, his fur standing on end, warning me of possible danger. Surprisingly, he was barking fiercely at me while I was lying in that old tomb. He might've seen a snake or something. I'm not really certain. But I still get goosebumps every time I recall that incident.
28. Sweet Dreams
Back in high school, my buddy (let's call him John) and I were both into football. We often did extra workouts at our school gym. Even after graduation, we stuck together and even had a stint working side by side. But, John got involved in selling pills, and that drove a wedge between us until we eventually stopped talking.
A few years passed, and one night I had this peculiar dream. I was back in our high school gym, lifting weights with John. We were laughing, chatting, just like old times until he mentioned he had to leave. I remember saying I didn't want him to go, that I missed our friendship.
I recall feeling sorry as he apologized, saying he really had to split. As he walked away, I said, "Okay, see you later". He simply nodded and echoed, "See you". I woke up to an eerie sound. My phone was ringing, breaking that strangely real dream. On the other end, it was my mom, who told me the shocking news—John passed on the previous night.
She'd learned this from John's mom, as my mum was serving as a secretary at the school John's siblings attended. They wouldn't be coming to school that week due to their brother's unfortunate demise. I can't shake off the feeling that I had a paranormal experience that night, allowing me to reconcile with and bid farewell to my old friend. In its own way, it gave me a sliver of closure.
29. Going Up?
At my old job, while our building was still being built, only the first, second, fifth, sixth, and seventh floors were in use. Once, when I was alone in the elevator traveling from the first to the sixth floor, it unexpectedly stopped and the doors opened on the third floor. Normally, I wouldn't bat an eye, but there were whispers of an apparition of a child frolicking around on the empty floors.
In that moment, I quickly hit the "close" button. Once the doors shut, I heard noises that sounded like someone was tapping their fingers against the elevator walls.
30. The Stranger
My family shares this story often. When I was little, I frequently got sick with fevers that didn't respond to any medicine. Out of the blue one day, a man we didn't recognize approached my mom on the street, asking her why I was so prone to illnesses. He then inquired about the old lady who was with me. Mom looked around but there was no one else—certainly not an old lady.
The stranger began to describe a woman who remarkably resembled my late grandmother—right down to her hairstyle and the attire she was dressed in for her last journey. Now, my dad was from a different town, so mom would absolutely recognize if this stranger was a common acquaintance. There was simply no way he could have known about my grandma's appearance before this encounter—unless he was really seeing her spirit.
Then, he gave some advice, instructing my dad to ask grandma to "move on". Dad did as suggested, and just like that, my inexplicable fevers ceased.
31. Hot Pursuit
I was hanging out with my dad and my 17-year-old brother when we decided to shoo away a group of rowdy, wild dogs. These dogs were hanging out on the other side of some bushes, howling up a storm. We feared they might hurt our cattle, so we took a few hundred steps towards them. Suddenly, they picked up our scent and their howls morphed into menacing growls and snarls. Being just a 10-year-old kid, I took off running back home.
I ran like the wind, so fast that my dad later joked that he wasn't sure my feet even touched the ground. I remember reaching a barbed wire fence; I didn't lose a step. Instead, I executed a perfect army roll right under it and kept on going. When you realize a pack of wild dogs knows exactly where you are, it's pretty frightening.
32. Phantom Frenzy
I reckon I was about 14 when it happened. I was jolted awake by racket that seemed like chairs being tossed about and the utensils in our drawers clashing together. The sound of plates shattering and knives and forks creating a metallic symphony was too eerie for me to investigate, so I stayed in bed, terrified. But the following morning, things got even more peculiar. Nothing was displaced, damaged, or missing.
Our home has stood for over a century and has always been known for its ghostly presence. Visitations range from self-shutting doors to the sensation of unseen hands brushing against you. It's quite unnerving. Intriguingly, the original owner's son, who was schizophrenic, tragically ended his life by self-immolation. The bereaved family moved out soon after.
33. A Comforting Touch
My friend passed on in a car crash, and they towed her car away early that day. We were just teenagers then, and we decided to gather all her belongings that had been thrown from the car during the collision with the tree. After about thirty minutes, I was so overwhelmed that I sat down and just started to cry. My two friends were there with me, picking things up, and they gave me some time to let it all out.
Suddenly, I felt a deep, comforting massage on my shoulders. It really helped me regain composure and calmed me down. After a few minutes, I reached back to let them know how grateful I was, but there was no hand there, just my bare shoulder. I turned around expecting to see someone behind me, but no one was there.
Glancing towards the car, I saw my two friends chatting about something. Yet, I was certain that SOMETHING had been TOUCHING me! I sprinted to the car and asked my friends if it was them who comforted me. They just stared at me as if I'd lost my mind. I rushed everyone into the car and we zoomed off. I genuinely believe I was consoled by a spirit, coping with my grief. It was a mix of gratitude and fear. Even now, 22 years later, I vividly remember the feeling.
34. Dodged One
I was out late one night, driving on a deserted road in New Mexico when a massive, black pickup truck started following me. It was one of those giant Dodge Rams, you know? All black, cow catcher on the front, and tinted windows all around. It stayed dangerously close behind me for what felt like forever.
I pulled into a truck stop to use the bathroom, and it did too. But weirdly, nobody got out. It just sat there idling in the parking lot, only to resume following me when I left. The truck finally stopped tailing me when I reached Carlsbad, veering off back to the south. Never saw it again, but I've made up my mind not to go on that drive alone anymore.
35. The Polite Poltergeist
When I was little, I once jolted awake in the middle of the night because my bed was trembling. Most kids would have been terrified, but it just ticked me off. I groggily rolled over, grumbling "Knock it off". To my surprise, the rattling halted right then. But what really spooked me was the guy's voice right next to me, uttering "Apologies". That's when I really panicked. I'm fairly certain our old family home was infested with ghosts.
36. Echoes Of The Past
In 2003, I was stationed at a small military base in Afghanistan, not far from Kabul and just before the mountains leading to Pakistan. The base was a former enemy camp before our takeover. We set up an observation post atop one of the few intact buildings, a stark 55-feet high concrete structure.
The building appeared to be an old office or makeshift medical facility, identifiable by empty spaces that once held windows and doors, surrounded by random debris. But the most haunting sight was in the bathrooms... dried blood absolutely everywhere. It clogged up the floor drains, urinals, and toilets, with disquieting bloody handprints and splatters on the walls.
The blood had pooled on the floor due to the blocked drains, eventually hardening into a grim scene. This horrifying sight was the same in every bathroom in the building. But that was just the start. After nightfall, if you sat still and listened, you could hear crying. Despite my skepticism towards divine beings and an afterlife, the noises I heard were inexplicable.
Although I had previously heard about such sounds from others, I had dismissed those until I decided to lend an ear. Initially, sitting in the staircase, amidst the building, I heard nothing, almost branding the noises as a hoax, I suddenly started hearing the cries. Suspecting someone might be playing a prank, I ventured into the direction of the sound.
Navigating through the simple layout of the building, through a few large rooms filled with scattered debris, I realized they were maddeningly empty. Even the blood-stained bathrooms were deserted. The crying seemed to echo from the opposite end of the building now.
Considering the possibility of a prank or auditory illusion, I inspected that area, only to find it as vacant as the rest. The crying seemed to have moved again, echoing from the other end. Deciding to let it rest, whether a prank or something else, I stepped away. Everyone experienced it, and we all gradually learned to ignore it. It could've been the wind, old pipes, or other explanations. But at the moment, it was pretty spooky.
37. A Healing Energy
A couple of years back, I participated in a group meditation get-together. One exercise involved pairing up. One person sat in a chair while the other stood behind them, waving their hands around different body areas to guide energy, sort of like Reiki although I don't really get how it works. Not too far into my turn on the chair, I began to feel a peculiar ache in my lower back.
But it didn't feel like a typical physical ache. It's tricky to put into words, but it felt more like an internal ache at the base of my spine. It seemed as if my brain was conjuring the pain as part of the whole meditation experience. It slowly worsened over about five minutes, until it became discomfortingly throbbing. Mentally, I told myself, "This pain needs to stop right now"!
And, just like that, it stopped. The rest of the session went smoothly. When we shared our experiences afterward, I told my strange back pain story. The woman who had been working with her hands on my body suddenly got deeply emotional. She started crying, which I thought was an odd response, but I didn't think much of it.
Fast forward a few weeks, the leader of our meditation group dropped me an email. He informed me that the woman who had been my partner at the session had passed on suddenly. She'd been fighting a losing battle against lower spine cancer for some time. I've never been as spooked as I was that day when the realization hit me that I might have been somehow sensing her pain.
38. Jailbreak
My girlfriend used to stay in a secluded desert area, and I often spent my nights there. There was a state facility nearby which was notorious for prisoner escapes. This was during a time when cell phones and alerts weren't commonly used, so whenever a prisoner escaped, the response was law enforcement in helicopters, broadcasting warnings through loudspeakers.
In the tranquility of the vast desert, it was startling to be suddenly woken up by a voice from the skies. We'd immediately jump out of bed to double-check all the locks and windows. Quite the memories!
39. Keep The Lights On
We moved into a rental that never really felt like a home to us. The place gave off an eerie vibe, as if someone or something was always watching. Both my boyfriend and our roommate worked night shifts, so I found myself alone in the house quite often. One particular night, while doing my routine tasks and watching TV before hitting the sack, I felt a dominant urge to avoid the hallway. I just couldn't bring myself to look straight down it.
The unsettling sensation of being observed and a brewing fear kept me nervous for a couple of hours until I mustered up the courage to head to my bedroom. I left the hallway lights on for comfort and climbed into bed. However, just as I switched off the lamp on the bedside table, I heard the distinct sound of a drawer being yanked open and colliding with the stopper. I immediately turned the light back on, but that wasn't the end of it.
This bizarre occurrence repeated itself around six times, after which I decided I'd rather sleep with the lights on. I snuggled under the covers, waiting for my boyfriend to return from work. He arrived at home around 3 am, chuckling at my fearful state, as he climbed into bed and turned off the lights. That's when things took a downright eerie turn. Every single door down the hallway began slamming shut, one after the other.
The frenzy didn't stop there- our closet doors began to shake violently. It sounded as if everything inside, from the shelves to the pole, was being thrown around with reckless abandon. My boyfriend quickly joined me under the safety of the covers, both of us scared out of our wits. When the commotion finally ceased, it took nearly 10 minutes to persuade him to go inspect the house.
Surprisingly, there was no sign of disturbance and our roommate was three hours away, visiting his family, ruling out possibility of a prank. That night, we slept with the lights on, and soon decided it was time we moved out. To this day, whenever I drive past that house, an eerie feeling washes over me.
40. Oh, Deer
Sometimes, I sleep with the windows open in the chill of winter, you see, I live high up, almost ten meters off the ground. The sound of deer walking through the night is common because they mainly move around at night where I live. This used to give me the creeps, but over time, I got used to it.
One particular night, the usual soundtrack veered off into something I wasn't expecting. Sure, there were deer, but there was also something else. Something quick rattling through the leaves.
I heard alarming snorts from the deer, then a few thuds, and then what sounded like a pack of them barking and scampering away. Following that was an unsettling collection of dragging sounds and more snorting. I was curling up under my blanket, palms soaked in sweat, too scared to budge. When everything quieted down, I managed to shut the windows and tried to sleep. The morning didn't offer any notable signs of the night's commotion except for some fresh dirt.
That night, I tucked away a few lessons for myself. If you plan to head into the woods, don't forget a lamp and a tool for self-defense. And if possible, don't go alone.
41. Trading Places
For a few months, my girlfriend was dealing with sudden, awful stomach pains that left her completely helpless. She played it down around her family and wouldn't see a doctor, but it got so frightening that I almost phoned an ambulance twice out of fear that it was appendicitis because she was in so much pain.
One time, I can recall trying to soothe her, her head in my lap, wishing with all my might that I could take the unknown pain away from her, even if it meant I had to suffer it instead. I'm not religious, but I caught myself appealing to the universe, "Let it be me instead. Please, let it be me instead".
Fast forward about two weeks, she hadn't had any pain recently. One night, we were just hanging out, when I adjusted my position and experienced unimaginable agonizing pain in my lower stomach. It brought about such intense sickness that I tried to dash to the bathroom but only made it halfway down the hall before I collapsed.
The pain was unbearable, making me unable to walk. During the four hours before I got to the hospital, I was either throwing up or fainting from the pain. Her parents contacted my folks and they rushed me to the ER where I was diagnosed with severe gallstones. Then things got really weird. The doctors repeatedly questioned me about how long I had been having pain. They refused to believe that it just started a few hours prior.
According to them, the size of the gallstones was so huge that I should've felt them when they were much smaller. Thye also pointed out that my gallbladder was seriously inflamed and the bile duct had burst, meaning that the gallstones have been present for a while. Considering the damage to my pancreas, they found it unbelievable that I hadn't been enduring and ignoring this pain for weeks...just like my girlfriend had.
I underwent surgery to have my gallbladder removed, and strangely enough, my girlfriend never experienced another bout of random pain. I know it sounds incredibly bizarre, but the correlation of these incidents still gives me the creeps.
42. A Sign From Above
My grandma was quite difficult, making my mom especially close with her dad. Naturally, when my grandpa passed on, my mom was deeply saddened. She once recounted to me her first solo visit to his gravesite. She was sat in her car, tears streaming down her face, pleading, "If you are still with me, please show a sign". Suddenly, the radio SPRUNG TO LIFE.
And get this, the first lyrics it belted out were from the song "Seasons in the Sun"—"Farewell Michelle, my little one". That’s my mom’s name, Michelle. She confessed she hadn’t heard that tune for nearly a decade.
43. Trespasser
Back when I was a kid, I lived pretty far from the nearest town—the closest store was about 50 km away, so we never really bumped into anybody. Once, when I was 11, my mom went away to a horse show and left me on my own for a few days. That was fine, I was excited about staying up late playing video games.
So, there I was, still buzzing from my games at 1 am when I decided to hit the sack. I switched on my bedroom light and glanced out my window. In the pitch-black darkness, I suddenly spotted a tall figure, like some seven-foot tall shadow, walking past my window. It was as dark as the night but its silhouette still stood out. The porch outside was quite old and worn.
Every time even our dogs walked on it, there would be a creak and groan, yet this tall figure moved in utter silence. It didn't pause or peer into my window when the room lit up; it just strolled by as if it had no idea. From the direction it was going in, it should've walked off the porch and into the horse barn, tripping the automatic lights.
But the lights never came on. Well, it scared the daylights out of me. In a panic, just like any kid would do, I tried to call my mom. But I couldn't get through to her, so I ended up bunking in the living room, inside a makeshift blanket fort with my dogs, for protection.
44. Just Passing Through
Once in middle school, I dozed off on our living room sofa. At around 1 am, I woke up frightened. To my disbelief, I saw a man walk right through the wall that connects our living room and my brother's bedroom. Upon noticing me, he turned my way. Half his face was absent, looking like he had scraped it on a road.
He placed a finger on his lips, as if asking me to keep quiet, then walked straight through our glass door into our yard. Freaked out by this, I rushed into my brother's room, only to find his bed empty. I ran to my parents in tears and panic, causing them to spring into frantic action and start calling all of my brother’s friends to locate him.
Eventually, they found out he was at a college party an hour away. To avoid him driving home inebriated, my dad went to fetch my brother and a close pal of his. The next day, we discovered that the friend who was initially supposed to get my brother back home passed on, having been thrown from his car after drinking and driving.
45. Beware The Basement
A couple of years back, we relocated to New Hampshire, and our new home had a flimsy plywood door in the basement leading to the backyard, which frankly, wouldn't have been hard to break down if anyone tried. One evening, my siblings and I were hanging out in the living room, my brother trying to spook us all by claiming he heard noises from the basement.
Eventually, he got up and swung open the basement door. Suddenly, we spotted a shadowy figure and heard the loud clatter of someone sprinting down the stairs. We let out screams of terror, which brought our stepdad rushing in, arming himself with knives in preparation for potential trespassers. But, when he ventured into the basement, it was empty and the external door was secure.
Since that incident, our dog refused to enter either the living room or the basement. Luckily, I didn't have to stay there for long—a few weeks later, I moved in with some other relatives.
46. Say “Cheese!”
I was just a teenager, about 15 years old. Coming home from work, I headed straight to my room to change out of my dirty work clothes and prepare for bed. While undressing, I glanced towards my window, expecting to see my own reflection. But what I saw instead made me shriek in terror. A man's face bobbed in the window. In haste, I dived onto the floor and flicked off the lights. My eyes didn't leave the window—hastily I struggled to put my clothes back on.
When I looked up again, the face was gone, but still, I kept my eyes pealed at the window. Then... a camera. No face, just this ominous camera, pointed at me as I sat on the floor. Panic-ridden, I dashed from my room, alerting my mom and brother. My brother raced outside; the backyard ladder was lying there deserted, with no one to be seen. That event kept me awake for almost a year. I’d just lie awake, eyes glued to that very window.
47. The Reading Nook
When I was about 16, my growing family decided to move from the home I had known all my life. As we packed up our stuff, it was natural for us to reminisce about the memories we had created in that house. One day, I decided to go into the closet downstairs and read with a flashlight, something I used to do as a child when I needed a bit of peace and silence.
This wasn't your average closet. It was one of those deep, under-the-stairs closets. It extended about two meters back before taking a left turn into a low, roughly meter-high area, which was mostly filled with a pile of old blankets and stuffed toys.
Naturally, that was the coziest spot to sit and read. About an hour in, as I adjusted my position for comfort, I heard a hoarse, distorted voice say, "You always make me happy". I completely freaked out—I bumped my head on the low ceiling and almost crashed through the door in my haste to get out. After calming down and explaining to my family why I looked like I had seen a ghost, I braced myself and went back in to investigate.
Turns out, it was my old Little Bear stuffed toy from when I was three or four. I’d accidentally pressed its belly when I shifted my position. But when I tried pressing the belly again... nothing. This bear, which I hadn't touched since I was a toddler, had used its last ounce of power—its final breath—to make me know I made it happy. You make me happy too, Little Bear... when you're not scaring the life out of me.
48. The Beach House
When I was about eight, my family and I rented a beach house for a week. The journey was not too long, but as a kid, it felt like forever and by the time we arrived, I desperately needed to use the bathroom. As we parked our car, we were greeted by the lady who owned the house.
She gave us a tour and tips about the local area. But all I could think about was using the toilet. So I asked her where it was, and she pointed me to the second door on the right past the kitchen. As I opened the bathroom door, to my surprise, there was an older man there. Embarrassed, I muttered an apology and hurriedly left the room.
I came back outside and they noticed my quick return. I explained there was already someone in the bathroom. That's when things got weird. The landlady looked baffled and assured us that the house was empty. Even after a thorough check, we found no one else.
Then the lady shared that her dad, the former owner of the house, had recently passed on. She had inherited the property and began renting it out unsure of what else to do. In my heart, I was pretty certain the man I'd seen in the bathroom was her father.
49. Seasick
This is about how a chilling run-in with a creepy stranger at a harbor café saved me from a much bigger nightmare. It was fall, 1994, in Sweden, and I was a 19-year-old. My dad was away working overseas for about half a year, and I thought surprising him with a visit would be a nice idea. Our father-daughter bond was strong, given that I was an only child and had lost my mom to cancer as a baby.
We may have been a two-person family, but my dad's awesomeness made it seem like so much more. As I grew older, I began to value that. So, with sheer excitement about the surprise visit, I booked my ticket. The journey would include a ferry ride.
Given that I was there well ahead of boarding time, I decided to grab some coffee at a café near the harbor. It was pretty busy with truckers, and I soon realized I was the only woman around. One man in his 40s, who had striking blue eyes and was covered in tattoos, seemed particularly interested in me.
He filled me with an eerie feeling. I decided to leave, feeling dreadfully out of place. To my horror, he tailed me. I asked myself, "What's next"? Keep in mind these were the pre-cellphone days. I thought that pretending to be engrossed with my ticket would deter him.
Suddenly, he grabbed the ticket from me and announced, “We're on the same boat. I'll enjoy your company for hours, how delightful.” His voice was an unsettling blend of friendly banter and simmering aggression. I had a deep-seated feeling that stepping onto the same boat with this man would be putting myself in serious danger.
I can't express why the sensation was so intense, but it was. At that moment, I decided not to board. It was a cheap ticket, so I could catch the next ferry. I stayed hidden in the restroom until the boat had sailed and went on to reschedule my trip. But the story doesn’t end here.
I was spot on about not boarding the ferry—it would have been catastrophic. Have you guessed it yet? The date was September 28, 1994, and the ill-fated ship was the MS Estonia. That gloomy night, she plunged into the Baltic Sea, killing 852 people. It remains the worst ferry disaster in Swedish history.
The memory of that day sends chills down my spine. I wonder, what if that creepy man hadn't approached me? Or what if I had ignored my gut and boarded the doomed ferry–would I have survived? Or would my dad have found my name on the casualty list from the Baltic Sea?
50. Acting Up
A few months after my sister and her husband welcomed their first child, they found themselves embroiled in a night-time scare. Her husband was on the night shift at work, leaving my sister home with the baby. One night, around 2 am, my sister was startled by loud knocking on her back door. She went to investigate and found a woman frantically banging on the door, pleading to be let in.
The woman claimed that her husband had harmed her down the road and was on the hunt for her. Naturally, my sister was hesitant about letting a stranger into the house, especially with her newborn to protect. However, she offered to call the authorities for assistance. Oddly, the woman protested, insisting that my sister should not call the authorities and should just let her in. That's when my sister got suspicious.
Ignoring this strange request, my sister fetched her phone and dialed 9-1-1. When she returned to the back door, she found the woman had disappeared. The officers arrived shortly after and shared that they had witnessed a similar scam a few blocks over. It appears that this couple would stage this charade to trick residents into opening their homes.
While this sneaky tactic may be common, the idea that it almost fooled my sister—putting her and my nephew at risk—gives me the shivers. It's like something straight out of the movie "A Clockwork Orange".
Sources: Reddit,
