It was a dark and stormy night. A lone panda was wandering through the forest, clutching his umbrella and trying to make his way home before being struck by lightning. As he watched his paws squish into the mud with every step, he suddenly saw another pair of feet appear right in front of him and jolted to a halt. He slowly looked up, raised his umbrella out of the way, and his eyes met the Grim Reaper. “Boo,” it said with a sickening smile, and the panda went sprinting in the opposite direction, screaming at the top of his lungs as thunder crashed in the background…

Alright, clearly I’m no Stephen King. But as we make our way into spooky season, what better way is there to get in the mood than to hear stories of the creepiest things people have ever witnessed? Down below, we’ve gathered some of the most disturbing and unsettling stories Reddit users have shared in this thread that might make you want to sleep with one eye open tonight, as well as an interview with the host of the podcast Disturbed: True Horror Stories, Chad.

So close the curtains, dim the lights, turn on your spookiest playlist, and enjoy these horrifying true stories. Be sure to upvote the ones that you find particularly unsettling, and let us know in the comments if you have any of your own creepy stories to share. Then if you’re in the mood for even more terrifying true stories, check out this haunting Bored Panda article next.

#1

I’m a paramedic and had just put a car accident victim in a body bag with a decapitation from driving under a trucks rear trailer. Coroner gave us the Ok to load him up. He was wearing a heavy jacket and sweater so we just stuck him in the bag and began to load him. After we got underway to the morgue, I heard a noise and the guy was thrashing around in the body bad violently :O I was out of my mind. This guy had 90% of his head missing!! We pulled over and my partner who didn’t see it, goes back and opens the bag while I was about to p**s myself. All of a sudden a very small chihuahua jumped out and ran up to my partner. He must have been in the guys jacket pocket or?? and been knocked out or just quiet until we got underway. Took me the rest of the shift to relax after that. 32 years in EMS and I’ve never had anything like that happen to me.

Image credits: anon

To gain some insight from an expert on real-life horror stories, we reached out to Chad, the host of Disturbed: True Horror Stories podcast. First, we wanted to know what inspired him to start this show in the first place. “I’ve had an interest in horror since I was a kid and have gotten more into True Crime as well,” Chad told Bored Panda. “I’ve been an avid podcast listener for many years. I loved the end result of what I would hear in a podcast, but I grew an interest in seeing what it takes to make that all come together. I thought it would be interesting to do something I hadn’t quite heard before, which was a unique blend of true crime and horror. Thus, Disturbed was born.”

We also asked Chad why he thinks horror stories are so captivating. “I think people have a fascination with scary stories because they really make you feel something in a way that’s hard to describe,” he shared. “We all have our own fears and seeing or hearing other people’s experiences can activate part of us that we are hard wired for – survival. Depending on how well the story is written, it can really immerse you in the experience and allow you to feel the fear and terror of the writer.”

When it comes to what stories he chooses to featured on his podcast, Chad says, “The stories I decide on for Disturbed are the ones I personally find the scariest or most fascinating. I try to feature a wide range of topics from paranormal, creepy encounters, ufo, cryptid creatures, unexplained etc. If it’s a well written experience in that realm, then I’m probably interested in it. We also have a dedicated hotline for people to send in voicemail submissions of their experience or just comments on the podcast.”

#2

This happened a few months ago. I was driving down my street coming home after a night out, as soon as I approached my house I noticed a guy in a suit just standing across the street in the field looking at my house. I didn’t want to pull into my house at that point so I just drove around my neighborhood. 10 minutes or so go by and I drive by again, he’s still there and he hasn’t moved. At that point I just drove around again, 5 more minutes and he’s still just standing there, staring at my house. At that point I just pulled into my driveway to see what he does…. Absolutely nothing. He didn’t even flinch, couple hours later he vanished. No idea who TF he was but it still creeps me out.

Image credits: MatticusPrime127

We also asked Chad if he had a favorite story that had been featured on his show before. “I have a fascination with glitch type stories where something happens that just might be giving us a glimpse into what reality really is,” he told Bored Panda. “We featured a story in an early episode where a person was driving on their regular commute home. They began to notice that the drive wasn’t feeling right and that they seemed to just keep going in spots where landmarks or turns should be. In one specific stretch of road, they heard a voice in their head saying ‘you should just keep going, it will be okay’ said in their own voice, but not their own thought.”

“They sort of panicked and jerked the wheel to the right, even though the turn appeared to be some 300 yards up the road,” Chad continued. “The person’s instincts screamed to turn now, and they were right. Had they not jerked the wheel and turned, they would have plowed into a thick forest of pine trees at 60mph and likely been killed. The person felt as if an unknown force was attempting to lure them off the road. I didn’t do the story much justice here but you can hear it in Episode 11 “I was almost lured off the road to my death”.

#3

I don’t find it that creepy but my friend at the time had a melt down over it.

It was halloween night, I was in 4th grade I think, there was a cat that came up to me in the neighborhood we always trick or treated in. I have a huge soft spot for cats, so I pet it for a minute or two then continue on my way. The cat starts following me. Then more cats start appearing and following me. This heard of cats followed us for multiple blocks, standing a few feet back, making no noise.

They don’t stop following me so my friend started freaking out, called me a witch on the verge of tears, then made me call my mom to pick us up. The cats left when my mom drove up.

Image credits: OwnTypeOfFunny

Chad also left us with some wise words, “Stay safe out there y’all. Be vigilant and trust your gut when something doesn’t seem right. Question things, be curious. Reality almost certainly isn’t just what we see. There’s more going on that we don’t understand or comprehend. So be curious.”

If you’d like to hear more horror stories and check out the Disturbed podcast, you can find it right here. And if you have your own scary stories to submit to Disturbed, you can do that right here.

#4

I work as a dog walker. We had a client who was an extremely rich & well known coin collector that lived alone with his dog & had a bit of an alcohol problem. Really nice guy just smelled like booze and was very disheveled every morning when we’d pick his dog up to walk her. One Monday morning I walk into his huge house and it looks like he’s asleep on the couch as he normally is, so I called his name to wake him up. I realized he’s half on his couch and in a really weird position. He wasn’t waking up so eventually I walk over to him and his eyes are wide open blood coming out of his nose and mouth and his hands are turning black and blue. Threw up on his patio and called 911. They said he’d been dead since Friday, he lived there alone and didn’t have friends or family nearby so I was the one that found him. Really really sad as he was very nice and not very old. But yeah still have nightmares of that wide open mouth and eyes with blood covering his face

Image credits: LittleTitLover

Even if you’ve never experienced anything particularly creepy or disturbing, there’s a good chance that you like to live vicariously through others who have. Whether that’s through fictional characters in one of the dozens of horror stories Stephen King has written, a film based on a real-life nightmare, or through hearing your friends’ scariest stories around a campfire, many of us have a huge appetite for the creepy and unsettling. 

But why do we love to hear these tales? Isn’t life bleak enough, with climate change, war and the stress of making ends meet amidst inflation? Well, according to Haiyang Yang and Kuangjie Zhang at Harvard Business Review, one reason we love to be frightened is just to feel something. Lots of us live for the adrenaline rush that can come from seeing a suspenseful film or being scared by actors in a haunted house. And when we’re exposed to something that horrifies us, we are stimulated mentally and physically in opposing ways. Part of us is fearful or filled with anxiety, while another part is excited. This cocktail produces a surge of adrenaline that we can’t help but enjoy.  

#5

Caregiving. Noc shift.

Got a complaint around 3am about screaming and banging.

Cool. Someone with Alzheimer’s is sundowning. Let me re-direct them.

I get on the elevator to the fourth floor. As I approach the floor I hear this wailing and shrieking. Like a banshee or a witch. And she is just slamming her walker on everything.

I get out. Immediately confronted her. Gently suggested let’s go back to your room. Have some water. Maybe use the toilet. She is still howling up a storm. Like just uncontrollable shrill screaming. Halfway down the hall she immediately goes silent. She slowly picks up her hand and points a bony trembling finger in my direction.

“He is right behind you”

Immediately go into f**k this mode. I get the creepy crawlies all up and down my spine. I pick up the pace. Take her back to her room. Get her into bed. Immediately nope out.

F*****g done.

Image credits: TheRealDannySugar

#6

Ex cop from NSW Australia here. Shift started at 7am. Instantly a double beeper (Urgent job) about someone being hit by a train. Got there and the station master told me that he was about a hundred meters down the track. I said “any chance of resus?” He looked at me like I was an idiot and replied, “he has no head.” I walked up the track and saw this young kid (he was 17) with no head. I looked up further and saw his head on the side of the track. There was little blood. His neck was pretty much seared from when he laid his neck across the track to end his life. When they came to take his body they put his head in between his legs. I’ll never forget that image of this person with their head facing forward in between their legs. Looked like a cheaply made horror movie. Definitely the creepiest thing I’ve ever seen and probably contributed to me not doing that job any more.

We also enjoy having novel experiences and getting to live vicariously through characters who are in a world or a situation we can only imagine. We do this all the time while watching films, reading books and listening to podcasts. Most of us don’t have any idea what it would actually be like to start selling meth, but a little part of us thinks we do after binging Breaking Bad. We may have never experienced a real-life love affair, but a romantic novel can help us feel like we have.

It’s the same with horror stories. We don’t actually want someone breaking into our home in the middle of the night with an ax, but we can imagine the experience in great detail after seeing it portrayed on film. Being exposed to terrifying stories makes us feel like our lives are a bit more exciting than they actually are, without having to be in any real danger. Horror is exciting and fun when we have the opportunity to turn it off or step away from the situation.  

#7

I grew up in a hillside house which backed up to about 50 acres of woods. My room was on the second floor so it was basically level with a plateau and a road that lead further up the hill and into the woods. One night I heard something and decided to look out the window. I saw a guy standing along the road just staring at the house. I flipped out and my Mom came into the room. When she saw the guy, she proceeded to go outside and tell him to f**k off which he promptly did. She told me she wasn’t scared of stumble bums and would have stabbed his a*s. I was 10.

#8

A few years ago I was woken up by someone lightly poking me in the forehead at 5am. I woke up thinking it was my roommate, but when my eyes started to adapt to the darkness I saw a 2 meters man standing next to my bed.
He immediately threw himself to the floor and covered his face. I didn’t know what to do, and I couldn’t even scream as I was completely shocked.

While I was thinking of what to use as a weapon he got up and starting running out of the apartment, and for some reason I jumped out right behind him (don’t know why I did tbh) and only then I started screaming for help. He eventually made it out of the apartment and started going down the stairs, I gained some sense and realised I probably shouldn’t be following this huge, tall, unknown man and ran back to my apartment.

One of my roommates was ready to go follow him, bat in hand and all but we decided it’d be better to just call the police.
We never found out who he was or why he was there, and nothing was stolen or taken.

Took me a long time to make it through the night calmly again and even more to feel comfortable at that apartment, specially by myself.

Image credits: p1nktarantula

#9

This actually happened last night.

Me and my friend were walking home from a party, and we passed a generally abandoned campground. We heard a dog barking, which was unusual since it was one in the morning. The bark sounded weird though. It kept persisting, until we both realized what it actually was. It was a guy imitating a dog’s bark. We heard insanely aggressive crunches coming from the woods, so we booked it back to my friends house.

Maybe not the creepiest thing ever, but it really freaked us out.

Image credits: LthePerry02

While you may assume that scary movies and ghost stories appeal to everyone, according to psychologists, there are a few prerequisites that need to be in place before we can start enjoying horror stories. First, we need to believe that we are physically safe. If we feel that we are still in danger when we pause the film or turn it off, we won’t be having any fun. We also need to be psychologically detached from a horror story to enjoy it. For example, we need to understand that when we see a woman being murdered in her home onscreen, she is just an actor covered in fake blood and is perfectly fine in real life. Finally, we need to know that we can control or manage the dangers we see in a horror experience. When we’re in a haunted house, for example, we know that we can easily outrun the zombies if we really needed to. Once all of these requirements are in place, we can fully immerse ourselves into a horror film or experience and still sleep well at night.

#10

My wife and I saw a guy jump off of a parking garage. We didn’t know he was up there until he hit the ground about 30 feet in front of us. It was horrible.

Image credits: anon

#11

This is only creepy in hindsight. My (now ex) husband and I were living in a building with 9 efficiency apartments. We were the middle apartment on the 3rd floor. One day the neighbor that lived directly underneath us knocked on our door. He came in and started apologizing for being short with us several days before. (Honestly he had no need to apologize; he was not rude or anything. We got home at the same time he did and he politely told us he didn’t have time to talk.) We told him it was fine and then chatted for a few more minutes. He told us how we were really nice neighbors, and we joked about the time our cat got out and wandered into his apartment, probably thinking it was our apartment. Before he left he said, “Hey listen, I’m going to be working on a project so if you hear banging and loud noises, don’t get alarmed. When I’m finished with that I’m going on vacation, so you won’t see me for a while.” We told him that was fine and didn’t think much of it.

About a week later he was found dead in his apartment. The “project” he was working on was a scaffold to hang himself. Before he hung himself he paid his rent in advance, left his door unlocked, and turned his heat up to 90 degrees. He had an ex wife that he was feuding with, so we think that he wanted her to be the only one who would come looking for him and find him as a disgusting, decomposed mess. Unfortunately he didn’t account for the smell. We started smelling something putrid early one morning, so I called the rental office and had them investigate. (I told them it was probably a sewer leak.) The poor maintenance man walked in on the mess.

So basically the dude came up to say goodbye to us and to make sure we weren’t on bad terms with him before he died. I wish we would have seen a warning sign or something so that maybe we could have gotten him some help, but we weren’t close with him and there was really no way for us to have known.

#12

Worked in wound care. Lady came in with severe decubitus from neglect in a nursing home. Both her legs were rotted on both sides from lack of blood flow from not being turned. Put her in the whirlpool and over the next 20 minutes her legs disintegrate. All the rotted flesh comes off in chunks. When we pull her out, she basically has two skeleton legs with meat hanging off them… and maggots. The bastards opened the window in her room to deal with the smell of her rotting flesh… in August. Instead of rotating her like they should have.

Certain types of people do have a larger appetite for horror than others, though. A daredevil who loves thrill-seeking activities is more likely to want to spend an evening watching a scary movie than a person who is highly empathetic and will have a hard time enjoying the film because they feel too bad for the victims. Gender and age also play a part in enjoyment of scary things. One survey found that young people tend to be more interested in horror than older audiences, and men are more likely to enjoy being scared than women. Socioeconomic status can also play a role, as more affluent populations tend to consume more horror films. This is likely because people who are not as privileged cannot always feel safe enough and in control enough to derive pleasure from a horror film. It’s not fun if it does not seem unrealistic.    

#13

Maybe just hallucination due to being tiered, but as I got up in the middle of the night one time, I saw the very dim shimmer of my cats eyes at the end of the hallways
“Alright, guess I woke her up too and now she is just walking downstairs to drink some thing too.”
Until I feel a small, soft head bumbing into my leg from behind, normally I love it and find it totally adorable when my cat does that, as it show how much she likes being around me. But this time. With my certainly real, warm, purring little cat at my side, I watch in horror as the other pair of glowing eyes slowly decent into the darkness of our living room downstairs.

#14

Out delivering shopping on Halloween, in Edinburgh, UK. Heard eery, loud, piercing screams come from the other end of the dark street I was on. Two little girls exactly alike, dressed as ghouls wearing makeup, came sprinting out of the darkness straight to me, both screaming. They immediately grabbed my jacket and stared up at me shouting something about a woman trying to take them away. Then from behind them out of the dark a bedraggled woman came hobbling along, pale, topless, with extremely saggy breasts and sores all over her arms, and tried to pull the two girls away from me stating they were her daughters.

I asked the kids where they stayed once I’d gathered my senses and took them home, and phoned the police on this woman, who was covered in sores. She tried to take another child off somebody else so I grabbed her, and as my hand wrapped around her arm, my fingers slipped into one of her large open sores.

Luckily somebody nearby let me use their sink to wash my hands. Still had to complete my shift, which was the second most annoying part of this story!

#15

This was probably 13-14 years ago. I was working as a delivery driver for an auto parts store and I’m taking a shortcut through a neighborhood. It’s during the winter which, in my state, gets mid level snow but it’s extremely cold. Suddenly a toddler in just a diaper bursts out of the front door of the house next to me covering his ears and screaming at the top of his lungs. He runs about 20 feet and disappears into someone else’s back yard. I immediately call the cops and start making laps around the block trying to find him because, again, it’s winter and the kids in a damn diaper. Cops show up and take over but I’ll never forget the look on his face or the sound of him yelling.

Image credits: VinceIsWellCool

Now, you might only enjoy consuming horror stories due to the excitement and entertainment factors, but you might be pleasantly surprised to learn that there can be even more benefits. Viewing a horror film with someone you’re romantically interested in can actually be a catalyst to falling in love, as being scared and experiencing your hearts pounding rapidly together can be a bonding experience. 

In the same way, we can bond with friends through being scared together as well. Oxytocin is often released following a frightening experience, so people who are scared together tend to be closer after the experience. And finally, the catharsis of finishing a horror film can flood our brains with endorphins when we finally get to relax. So if you’re a fan of Stephen King or Alfred Hitchcock, watch away! And you might even consider inviting your next date to view a scary movie with you too.     

#16

Walking out of a breakfast restaurant and saw a van parked next to me…

I got in my car and was futzing with whatnot and 2 middle aged white guys come out and get in the van and I think I got a glimpse of a barefoot black kid and a mattress on the floor of the van.

They leave and I took down their plates and my gf was like was that what I thought it was?

Anyways we called the cops and gave them a plate and the description of everyone

Image credits: wastingtoomuchthyme

#17

I watched a homeless guy give himself stitches on the side of the road

#18

When I was barely 19 I got a second job as a bartender in a dive bar. Everyone including my boss knew I was underage but I was still encouraged to drink. One night, being too young and drunk to know better, I accepted a ride home from a coworker. I was giving him directions to my house, turn left here, straight at the light, etc. but he started ignoring me and turning right when I said left, then left when I said go straight, and I got SCARED.

Luckily I carried a knife with me at the time. He insisted that he was taking me somewhere nice. I pulled out my knife and held it to his throat until he stopped the car. I got out and RAN home.

Quit that place right after.

Edit: yeah, I’m a girl, but this could have happened to anyone. In hindsight dude was creepy way before then, but I was super oblivious/naiive and drunk on top of it all.

Years later when Tarantino’s Death Proof came out and Kurt Russell’s character turns left instead of right, it brought it all back. I don’t carry anything anymore but I definitely hold my keys in my fist if I ever feel in danger, just in case.

The stories on this list might be even more unsettling than a film or television show portraying nightmares because these accounts are true. But if you’re looking to fully immerse yourself in spooky season, we hope you’re enjoying this list. Keep upvoting the responses that you think deserve their own Halloween feature films, and then let us know in the comments if you have any frightening stories of your own to share. And if you’re in the mood to keep up your scary story momentum, you can find even more terrifying tales from Bored Panda right here.   

#19

Back when I was in 6th grade, suddenly woke up in the middle of the night and saw an old lady outside our roon looking directly at me. She does a “shh” gesture on me and proceeded to knock several times on my uncle and aunt’s bedroom beside our room. After several knocks, my uncle opens the door who seems confused and looks into our room to see me lying in bed and staring wide eyed at him. After a minute of staring at each other. He goes back into his room.

It was all so vivid even to this day, I’m not even sure if it was sleep paralysis or something else.

Edit: Replying to your comments gives me goosebumps whenever I try to remember that “incident.”

#20

I once escorted a church group, ages young kids through adults, on a weekend overnight outing to a camp in the Poconos. The camp was set at the confluence of two streams and was somewhat rugged. The group had lots to do – a climbing wall, boating, hiking, sports, all kinds of stuff, including a nature center and little museum. The nature center had interactive displays, fish tanks, small animals, etc, and a “touch table” – a large wooden table with sides, on which was scattered all sorts of artifacts the guests could pick up and handle. These items included deer antlers, bones, turtle shells, feathers, arrowheads and pottery, rocks, seeds and nuts, tanned hides, etc. Little kids especially loved it. All of the items were found by guests or staff while out in the camp, and returned to the nature center. I handled the items also, and I noticed one bone had a really odd shape. I am an environmental scientist by profession, and an outdoorsman and naturalist for fun, and can generally recognize what bones came from what parts of what animals. This bone was a HUMAN MANDIBLE – the lower jawbone of a person. It was severely worn smooth and had no teeth, but easily recognizable as such. It had been there for years, handled by thousands of people, and no one noticed or at least reported it.

#21

I drove home from a night out with friends. The streets were empty, which was perfectly normal as it was past midnight in a quiet town. Turned a corner close to my house and saw an older women standing there, looking directly at me. Bit weird, but ok. Came home, got ready for bed, went to close the blinds in my bedroom and that very woman from earlier was standing there, about 6 feet from my window, starring directly at me. Spooked me a little bit.

Edit: For those who call that story fake. Is it so hard to believe that a woman spotted my car from earlier, saw the lights in the house, and decided to look inside my window from the sidewalk which was about 6 feet from my window? Nosy people in a quiet town, that’s it.

#22

One time me and my (now ex) boyfriend were driving to go get dinner and a Jeep with its top off pulls up next to us and there are 3 people blind folded and strapped to a seat. It was like 11pm and there wasn’t any laughter and didn’t look like anyone was talking or anything music from their car. We were so freaked out we forgot to get the car’s plates so I have no idea what happened to those people.

#23

Went out trick-or-treating as a preteen with a few friends. We were walking down a road toward the next house when a pickup truck pulls up to us and this massive guy leans out the window and tells us he has candy for us, if we just walk up to his truck and get it. One of my friends started to do it, and we grabbed her and told her no. The guy took off as soon as he saw we weren’t getting any closer.

#24

My friend and I were walking back to our dorms from the library and it was getting dark, we started crossing the crosswalk and noticed a guy across from us pushing a stroller. He looked up and waved at us, but none of us waved back because we thought maybe he was waving at someone else. We start crossing and and the guy starts crossing too, when we pass the dude with the stroller he kept looking at me like he wanted to say hi or something but just kept staring. When we were finally on the other side my friend said “There was nothing in that stroller”. We decided to walk a little faster after that.

#25

Technically missed the thing itself, but the news report was disturbing as hell.
In short, my sister and I were about 30ft away from this suicide https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/norfolk-broads-murder-john-didier-1561791.amp

And somehow we didn’t notice. We eventually saw it on the local news, iirc my sister threw up because she had been swimming in the water with a corpse.

#26

Couple of years ago I had a dream I was in an elevator, and could only press ‘up’. One woman and one man were in the back of the elevator. As we ascended, the elevator began shuddering and rattling. It paused, then I heard something snap. Then it was just the sensation of falling, falling, falling.

The next day, I was in a dilapidated multistory parking lot in an unknown part of town. I think my boyfriend and I were going to see a play and it was the only parking lot with empty spots left. We got into an old, rusted elevator to go down. One woman and one man were already there. As we descended, the tiny elevator shuddered and then slowly stopped and started several times. We were all looking at each other, uncertain.

I couldn’t take it anymore, I pressed the button for the next floor. I made my boyfriend take the stairs for the next five floors. He was furious. Didn’t see the woman and man again that night.

#27

a homeless guy was under my porch and my mom discovered him humming at 2 am creepyyyy

Image credits: WhAtTfRiChArD

#28

A former friend and I went into the tunnels of a wash to smoke while waiting for our other friends. We decided to walk through it for a little just to see what we would find. At about 15(ish) minutes in, we’re approaching another bend, and see something in the distance sitting against the wall. We stop and kinda just stare for a bit, thinking it might be a homeless man or something. Whatever it was, it immediately knew we were there. Then we see it lean forward onto it’s feet, and very slowly stand without taking its eyes off of us. It was super skinny, and looked completely grey. Couldn’t make out any defining physical or facial features. It just looked like a tall, skinny, naked grey man. I definitely didn’t like what I saw, and I could tell it surely wasn’t welcoming of our presence. It’s safe to say we both got the f**k out of there pretty quickly.

I dunno who or what it was, but I didn’t like it.

EDIT: To clear things up, it was a storm drain with a long tunnel. My bad.

#29

Around 6am, sun not quite up yet, when I’m awoken by the sounds of blood curdling screaming. The most horrifying sound I have ever heard and I will never forget it. Turns out a woman was being murdered in the parking lot right by my apartment. The police showed up almost immediately but it was too late for her. She was trying to break up with her abusive boyfriend and he put a hit out on her. The hired guy stabbed her as she was getting in her car to go to work. (Ex) boyfriend put on a show for the police, crying and everything. Horrible.

#30

I was a cop in a very remote location in northern Australia.

Late at night I received a call about a body found in a bush cemetery. Bush cemeteries are these tiny, old cemeteries that are normally out in the middle of nowhere. The cemetery had a handful of plots (some from early 1900s), and was dotted with termite mounds.

The matter was of interest as the body was in a shallow, unmarked grave, and wrapped in a canvas bag.

The detectives are all based in the city some 450kms away. It was decided that they would come down the next morning. This meant that a crime scene guard must be posted at the location in the interim.

I volunteered as crime scene guard. I grabbed my fold out camp chair and settled down for the night to chill with old mate. It was a pretty nice night so I just spent the time looking up at the stars. It was just me, the body, and the Milky Way.

A couple of hours pass uneventfully. At about 2am the quiet tranquility was pierced by blood curdling screams. The screams were coming from the bush land some 10-15 metres behind me. It sounded like someone was being brutally murdered.

I hit the deck then started creeping forward on my belly, hand on my holster. I call out multiple times but there was no reply. Oddly enough, the screams would rise and fall, and were getting closer. I wasn’t sure if the rank smell was me s******g myself or the decomposing body next to me.

I start dragging myself towards the screams. As I get closer it almost sounds like there at two sources of screams. One is off to my right, and another is fast moving to my left.

I take cover when I get to the tree line and wait. I’m staring at the corspe when a red fox darts out of the trees and tears towards the body. The little f**k starts [screaming] (https://youtu.be/CmLdgCczb_g) like this and is soon joined by its demon spawn. I charge at the bastards to scare them away. They retreat to the bush again but I heard the buggers screaming all night long.

#31

Step-grandmother had Alzheimer’s. The night before she died from the disease, she was alone in her room. I could hear her talking to other people in the room. She addressed them as dead relatives that she’d forgotten completely in the years prior (she didn’t even remember me or my step-mother at this point). Updating them on the current events in the family. I didn’t investigate. She was dead when I went in the next morning. Makes my skin crawl right off my body and down the street to think of it.

Image credits: LimitlessQueer

#32

My aunt gave my family a really creepy pinocchio puppet. It was carved out of wood and the face was too sharp, angular, and stained a deep dark color. My parents hung it behind the basement couch, under an air vent. Whenever the air was off, the puppet would sway, creak, and move. I remember it raising its arm at one point. But, whenever the air vent turned on, it would go limp.

#33

An ex girlfriend and I were hanging out, messing around at like 1:00 in the morning on a blanket at a school field. We were there for a good 2 hours, but after we got up and started walking through the field back toward the parking lot, we saw the silhouette of a man walking toward the parking lot following behind us, from the edge of the field, about 40 feet away.

We have no idea how long he was watching us but he got into a Jeep near our car, but turned the other way on the main road. The Jeep was not there when we got there, and we didn’t see the lights from him pulling in, which we should have. It was creepy as f**k.

#34

My family and I were driving in a thickly wooded area in the upper Peninsula of Michigan. Way up there, like Crystal Falls/Iron Mountain area where most of the homes were owned by wealthy, older people who rent out cabins to vacation goers. We had to drive through a long, dirt road to get to the main road and it led only to privately owned property on the other end. It was about 5am. We saw a figure in a dark cloak, carrying an old fashioned lantern. I really don’t know why anyone would be roaming around private property in a woods where there’s bears and other dangerous wildlife at 5am.

Image credits: anon

#35

When my son was little he would constantly talk to and about “the man in the closet.” It was a huge closet and we had taken the doors off to turn it into like a little alcove for his toys and dresser and stuff, so we couldn’t shut the door. The man in the closet seemed to stay in one exact spot and never move. My son would sit on the floor and talk to that empty space. He even sometimes said good night to him when I was tucking him into bed, looking at the same exact spot every time. I would put things in that spot and my boy would move them because the man didn’t like it. It was maybe two years before he stopped talking about the man in the closet.
He also had an imaginary friend that he called “his brother.” I have an older daughter and only one son, neither child is aware that my son had a twin who died in the womb. We really didn’t like it when he talked about “his brother” but we went along with it.

#36

I have an old Google Voice phone number that was only used for an apartment intercom system years ago and has never gotten anything but robo-calls since. One day I got a voicemail from an LA phone number that had nothing but a faint high-pitched voice asking “Hi. Um, do you know, where is the body?”

#37

My mom and i lived in an apartment when i was 13 for a few years. The complex wasnt located in the best of areas, and had gang activity, graffiti, and you could hear gunshots and police sirens occasionally.

Some deaths unfortunatley happened in that area, including a young adult boy whos family also lived in that complex. There was a street memorial under a street light next to the complex. It was truly heartbreaking. He got attacked by a gang and shot to death.

A year goes by, and its the one year anniversary of his death. (My mom and i pay our respects to the neighboring family in the morning) And that night I stayed up painting. It was about 1:45 AM. I went to the fridge to get something to eat, and put it in the microwave.
I looked outside the window, where I got a view of the street memorial and the family’s apartment. Then all of the lights went out. I went to check the light switch, when i looked outside and noticed that it was a neighborhood power outage.
Every light was out, exept for two light sources in the whole neighborhood. The street lamp where the memorial was, and the family’s apartment. The power outage only lasted for a minute or so, but it creeped me out do much.
It’s been years since that happened, but i still look back and wonder about that night, and it still freaks me out.

#38

As a new firefighter, I responded to a obvious code gray(dead body) in the road about 3 weeks ago. it turned out to be a murder. the victim had his throat slit ear to ear and was thrown out a window. the sheriff’s office said It was self-inflicted, but I’m calling b******t. there was to much blood, and to much evidence to be self inflicted. I’m thinking it was a drug deal gone wrong or drug or money related. all at 7am. I was alittle f****d up for a few days.

#39

About two year ago I took a delivery that I will never forget. It was around 9 pm on a Saturday and I had to take two extra large pizzas to an address that was outside of town in the country. I pulled down a very long gravel driveway up to a run down farm house with one porch light acting as a beacon. As I walked up to the house I noticed Halloween decorations still up on the porch (it was the middle of June) one of which was a grim reaper sitting in a rocking chair. There was no door bell so I knocked on the door, no answer. Knocked again, no answer. Right as I was about to knock for a third time the door slowly creacked open. A decrepit male voice spoke “hold on a sec” a light came on revealing an old man in his underwear. The guy must have been in his 70s or older . He had a terrible hunch and stood no taller than 4’11to 5ft. He was grinning revealing yellowish black teeth. I told him the total was $17.xx. He asked if I could carry the pizzas inside to the kitchen (normally I would say no, but I didn’t want this oldtimer to hurt himself). The house was immaculate from what I could see. The old man asked me to wait in the hallway so he could light a candle since the kitchen lights were out (I know weird right?). As he lit the candle I could see five pickle jars sitting on the counter in front of me. The old man asked me to put the pizzas on the floor next to the counter. So I bent over and placed them on the floor. As I was getting up I heard an exhale and the candle went out. I asked the old man to light it again so I could see to no response. I heard the sound of a jar opening followed by the clicking of a lighter. The candle was lit again revealing the old man holding a pickle. He said that “this is Margery, she isn’t supposed to be awake right now but since we have a guest who brought food ,it is ok”. At that moment I wanted to get TF out of there but couldn’t for some reason. He walked over to me and handed me the pickle and told me to “put her next to the pizza box”. I did, and I f*****g hate pickles. He then paid me and a booked it out of there.

Edit:- He did tip me though

#40

First week of high school. I (female) go to McDonalds with my friend (male)after school. We are waiting for our food, when all of a sudden this guy walks up to us, probably in his 30’s. He looks at my friend, then me, and says “My name’s nick, and I like girls.” Another guy walked up and said “not here” and pushed him away. But it was honestly so scary, I had no clue what he would do.

#41

When I was about 11 or 12, I messed around outside with 2 other younger boys. Suddenly, this man just kinda approached, staring at us with wide eyes and his tounge slightly stuck out. Then, he just sat and watched us. Since I was the oldest of the kids, I was just getting old enough to assume what it meant and I just told the other two unsuspecting boys to go play somewhere else. I don’t remember seeing him again after that, so at least he didn’t follow us. Maybe I was overanalysing the whole thing, but it sure as hell seemed too sketchy to risk.

#42

The strangest thing I have ever witnessed was pretty strange. The setting of this story was my cousin’s house in Italy. We were eating a peaceful dinner until my cousin’s family decided to look out of the window. We saw a very tall hotel and on top of it, a man in pajamas, standing on the ledge. We stopped looking because there were younger kids at the table, but to be honest, while everyone stopped looking and continued eating, I had a glimpse of him jumping off. In my head I keep questioning the reality of this story because it was so unbelievable.

#43

I once worked as a server in a strip club. One member would pay me $20+ to make an origami frog then step on it. I thought at first it was just weird but then I learned about the crush fetish

#44

I got home from work one day and saw none of my three roomates were home. Their cars were all gone. I walked inside and started making something to eat. From the other side of the house I heard a door in the hallway open, footsteps, then I heard a door close. I thought it was kinda weird because I thought everyone was gone but just kinda brushed it off. Later I went and knocked on my roomates door (there are 3 rooms in the hallway and one of them was mine and the other was my brothers and I was sure he wasn’t home) nobody answered. I opened the door. Nobody in there. I grabbed my gun and checked every corner of the house. Nothing. I have no doubt that I heard a door open, some footsteps and then a door shut. Nothing weird has happened since in the house but still, its creepy

#45

I made the mistake of thinking as long as I walked down S Michigan Ave in Atlantic City from the casinos to my hotel, I would be okay. Its a road that’s surrounded by the Tanger Outlets. Really nice outlet of shops. lines the entire road. Also the same road that the AC hospital is on. So I figured it would be safe to walk at night.

Big mistake.

Had a crackhead shadow me. At one point, he started walking beside me and talking mad s**t. He was trying to freak me out and make me an easy target for a mugging or stabbing. Talking about how he gets into fights with other crackheads and big black guys (did I mention this crackhead was mad racist?). I clocked that s**t right away. I was creeped out initially, cause I’ve never been in this situation. And I felt doubly creeped out cause I left my pocket knife at home on this trip.

Now, one of my friends is a Marine Drill. I mimicked his stride as best I could, hoping my body language would give Crackie McCrackerson a “F**k with me and I’ll skull f**k you” vibe. Also slowed my pace so if he tried to stab me, I could see it coming and fight back.

On the last one sidewalk light between me and the hotel, I decide to begin jogging ahead. Not running in case the crackhead thought the jig was up and I was making a break for it. I noticed that he started picking up his pace at match mine, but keeping a distance so he could try to sneak up on me. It was pure dumb luck that a convention attendee for the event I was attending in AC was taking a smoke break downstairs of the hotel and just happened to round the corner as I noticed the crackhead matching my jog. I yelled out at this guy in a friendly manner (didn’t know him, but sure as s**t confused the poor guy). Crackhead slows to a slow walk as he realized that he was facing 2 people instead of just one guy. And he decided to jaywalk to the other sidewalk.

To the rando who saved my a*s last night: I owe ya a beer.

To the crackhead I met: lets not meet again.

#46

My mom and I discovered a random footprint on our driveway, like it’s imprinted (like a shadow?) on the driveway, you can see the individual toes. It’s way bigger than both our feet, and none of my friends walk barefoot on my driveway…

#47

When I was 8 years old, I pointed to a spot on the countertop in my kitchen and said, “Look, dad is sitting over there.”

My dad died when I was 4. My mom was horrified. I was so convinced, and still am convinced, that my dad’s spirit was sitting on that counter. My mom took me to a medium/spiritual healer after that. She was worried I could see ghosts. This was just one of many times I saw my dad. That was just the breaking point.

#48

When I was like 5, really young, before life changed me, I was eating dinner in the basement floor of my house. We had it set up so it was like a cozy living room area; couch, TV etc.. There was a creepy little furnace room which was just a dark spot in our house off to the side of the livingroom area, as well as a bathroom down the hall with a sauna that didn’t work, a bedroom next to that bathroom, and a door to the outside which led to our water tank (this home is located very far out in the country, it’s a dirt road for like 30 mins to the nearest town.)

As I was eating my dinner, just chillin, watchin TV…Suddenly one of my action figures flys across the room and crashes into the wall with a loud BANG! I watched it fly across the room and hit the wall and fall and I saw this with my own eyes.

Thinking it was my sister, I say “very funny Stephanie! I know it was you!” But I did not hear her signature giggle, which I would have expected, nor did I hear her walk back up the creaky wooden stairs. I myself investigated further, I grabbed the action figure (from behind the TV) and went up the stairs myself and checked on my family upstairs.

My sister was in the middle of a puzzle, not out of breath, she hadn’t just run up silently and joined in like nothing was happening. She wasn’t the one who threw the action figure.

My question is, who did?

#49

Working at a supermarket when I was a teenager. Late at night not many people in the store, minimal staff. I was stacking a shelf. The cleaner had just turned up to start his shift (he started when the store closed).
I watched him walk past the dairy section then saw 3 cartons of milk from different spots all fall from the shelf and spill on the floor. These were the plastic type that only really broke 50% of the time when dropped and they all broke.
I said “Great start to the night mate”
He replied “can’t get any worse”
As he bent down to pick up the first carton he clutched his chest and had a heart attack. He died that night.

#50

Re-posted from a few days ago:

When I was in 5th grade, my parents divorced. My Dad kept the house I grew up in and my Mom moved into a divided house/apartment setup with her soon-to-be new husband. On Halloween night, my Mom took me and my siblings trick or treating in the small town that the apartment occupied. At the end of the night, my Mom took us back to the new apartment to spend the night. The furniture wasn’t due to be moved in for a few more days, so we slept in sleeping bags in the living room. I was already on edge because it was a new place still, and the living room had a huge window that faced the sidewalk, so anyone could walk up the porch and look right in.

At some point during the night, I had to go to the bathroom. I got up, crossed the room and went to the downstairs bathroom. Before I could go, I swear I heard a voice say, “Hello!”. I jumped because it sounded like it was coming from the same room as me, right behind my head. It was a high pitched voice, almost like a little girl, but not quite. Like an adult trying to fake a child’s voice, if that makes sense. It sounded happy, like if you were greeting someone you hadn’t seen in awhile. It didn’t sound like either of my sisters or my Mom. I just waited in the bathroom for a bit, then eventually calmed down and went back to sleep.

A couple of weird things happened while we lived there. Sometimes toys would go missing, there would be weird noises, and my future Stepdad even fell down the stairs once after tripping over a hamper that no one can remember putting there, but nothing that logic or reason can’t explain.

At the end of 6th grade, we moved out of the apartment and into a house outside of town. The last time I was ever there, I was leaving to catch the school bus, but stopped in the bathroom beforehand. As I finished washing my hands, the same exact voice popped up and said, “Goodbye…”, this time kind of sad sounding.

TL;DR: My Mom’s apartment had a semi-friendly ghost that hung out in the bathroom.

#51

In 6th was having a sleepover with my two friends. We’re in my friends room playing Halo at 2 in the morning, when my friend says “did you hear that?” And we think he’s joking. We turn down the volume and we hear a knocking on his window from the outside. We all lose our s**t and freak out and run out of the room, and his grandma is up asking us wtf is going on. She’s not super old, maybe in her 50s, so she isn’t super frail. We tell her there’s somebody in the yard and we all slowly go out with bats and stuff checking out the yard, but there’s nobody there.

When we all get back in, she tells us that it was all a prank and that it was actually her that did it because she thought it would be funny or it would be fun for us to have some kid of excitement or whatever, and told us to go back to bed. My friends believed it and were relieved but I knew it was bs because she stayed up the rest of the night in the living room staring out the window.

#52

Kinda creepy-funny, but I used to live in Philadelphia along a popular bus route, right at one of the stops.
It was Halloween and my friend and I were sitting on my front stoop with a basket of candy.

The bus suddenly came rolling by, I looked up, and who but Michael Myers was sitting on the bus, completely staring at me from the time it began to pass, during the stop, and as it continued on.

I guess the dude was just totally in character that night.

Gave me the heebie jeebies.

#53

I was walking late at night in the dark in the foothills of Calif when I fell off a cliff. I fell for what felt to be an eternity but wasn’t hurt when I landed. Came back to the same spot the next day to discover that my entire fall was around 3 feet.

#54

this is a story that may be inaccurate (i was round 3-4) and likely unbelievable

I used to live just outside of Bourne, Texas and I have a twin brother. I woke up one night for whatever reason and looked at the wall and saw a shadow, i walked a little close to it and tried to see if it was my shadow, I moved a hand, it stayed still, I kick, it stays still. I thought “might be my brother” so I turn around to see my brother asleep, and i look back at the shadow, sure enough, still there. At this point I’m freaking out, the shadow looked like it could be coming from the bathroom somehow to me so I bolt into bed and I still see this shadow just standing there, so I turn on invincibility by putting my blanket over my head and going to sleep.

I don’t know what it could have been but I kinda want answers.

#55

Sort of a hindsight thing, but back in the AOL days I used to chat with a user who went by Rebldomaker, mostly about Doom. Technical stuff, I liked trying to make my own WADs (levels), and he was pretty decent at it already and gave me some tips. Found out his name was Eric, and lived in Littleton, CO.

Yes. That Eric from Littleton, CO. The one who shot up Columbine with his friend Dylan.

#56

I’m 19 years old, summer after Freshman year of college. I get a ride and hang out with 2 friends. Not gonna lie, we smoked a lot of pot.

They are giving me a ride home at maybe 1 am. We decide to take the country roads, so a 15 minute ride on the highway takes about an hour in the country.

On the drive, one friend starts talking about how weird it would be if someone ran out into the road covered in blood and asked us for help. What if they were a murderer or a zombie or something? As I mentioned, lots of pot.

We go around a curve and a tree has fallen across the road. Luckily for us, someone had smashed through the tree on our side of the road already, so we didn’t wreck.

We see a car about 50 yards up the road run off on the left side and stuck between a tree and a fence. We stop to see if they need our help and it gets weird. We are in the middle of nowhere and there is no one in sight. There’s blood on the steering wheel but no one anywhere.

We are thoroughly freaked out at this point, what with the earlier zombie/madman conversation, and (stoned) don’t remember what road we’re on or what the closest intersection is. We drive to the next crossroad and call 911, and wait there for the officers so we can show them where the wreck is.

There is a HUGE police response once the officers see the truck, the blood, and no one around. They must have gotten 10 to 15 cars out to start searching. We told several officers what we saw and waited in our truck, scared out of our minds because we were still worried about zombies and also getting arrested for weed.

After 3 hours or so, the cops started to leave. Eventually there were only a couple cars left and I got up the nerve to get out of our truck and ask an officer if we could leave. He told me they found the other driver; she had no cell phone (2002) and walked a few miles to the closest house. Apparently we hadn’t been needed for quite some time, but they all forgot about us and we were too high and paranoid to bother the cops.

I got home at 5 am and I was still freaked out!

I am so glad so many police responded and worked so hard to find that driver. I could picture them lying in a field somewhere dying alone quite easily, and we were all so lucky that night. I never got to thank the officers. I’m sure we looked high as heck, but I imagine they cut us a break for trying to help someone.

#57

At a gas station that I used to frequent we saw a black conversion van with Tweety Bird on the side. It was complete with a dash panel filled with cartoon figurines. . .and the entire rear cabin was covered in plastic sheeting like a Dexter kill room. Creepy as f**k. Then we find out that the weird late 50’s fella that works there drives it.

#58

Probably the least scary thing on here, but one time my mom and my 2 other siblings just got home from a Christmas party and it was about 9 PM. My oldest brother ran inside the house cuz he really had to use the bathroom. Me and my other brother eventually went inside and the bathroom my brother used was on the lower floor. We stood at the top of the stairs calling him for some reason (I forgot) and then a orange golf ball rolls right towards us. We both thought he was playing some kind of prank on us cuz he did that a lot, but then me and my younger brother froze because we heard the door of the bathroom open and he then went up the stairs. Me and my younger brother were frozen.

#59

Metal gouged out of a cargo trailer by human fingernails. The cargo trailer that had been left in the El Centro desert in August by human smugglers and had 36 people in them. Some women, children, and men and all but four men were dead when the border patrol found them. You could smell it from about a 1/4 mile away and it was pretty horrid. The people tried to claw their way out, women and children had been violently raped, there was blood, s**t, p**s everywhere inside with a puddle on the outside where the doors were. Some of the people had tried to tear their own throats out and others had clawed their faces tearing chunks out. Worse thing I’ve ever seen in my life and took me years of treatment to finally function normally.

Not a single mention in the newspapers at the time.

#60

This happened about 10 years ago when I was in college. I had a friend who had an issue, basically he stated a demon was possessing him. Even had some preachers drive in from out of state to pray over him. I was asked not to be there since there was a possibility of the demon going from one host to another that is weak in their faith. Whatever, I didn’t feel qualified to be there nor had any knowledge that would be helpful, so I wasn’t. I was mainly there for guidance and to be a friend to the guy, didn’t really go out of my way for any ‘first-hand’ experience.

Anyways, the creepy part. About time after all this went down, I had an experience that would forever stick with me. I was in my dorm room in the top bunk (I had a dorm room to myself). It was nighttime, and I was facing away from the dorm door . I looked over, probably to see the time or whatever, and I saw a cloaked figured just standing in my room, right next to the closed door. It wasn’t a tall figure, but it wasn’t short. I couldn’t see any details on them, but I could definitely see the silhouette of “someone” or “something” in my room. I glanced at the figured and turned away to lay back down…only to realize that i saw someone in the room and quickly snapped my head to look back at the door… only to see no one there. Within 5 seconds, I saw a silhouette, looked away, quickly looked back to see no one was there.

I know that sometimes in the dark your eyes play tricks on your. The silhouettes of different things in the dark can make it appear like someone or something is there when there isn’t. That night in college, there only thing in the room on that wall was a desk. There was nothing there to form a human-like cloaked figure in my room. Something was there then wasn’t. Thinking about it still makes my hair stand on end.
Source: boredpanda.com