There’s something about childhood memories that make them stay with us for a long time. Riding a shiny new bike, going on a trip to the beach on a hot summer day, planning for the first day of school. Can you see it? Their inherently sweet nature reminds us of that magical time when we used to let our imaginations run wild and move breezily through life without a single care in the world.

However, there’s another category of recollections we wish to hide in the deepest corners of our minds and forget all about them. A few months ago, Redditor Hugosimpon decided to delve into precisely such cases. They invited members of the Ask Reddit community to share their creepiest and most haunting memories from when they were kids, and people immediately jumped into the comment section.

From traumatic experiences to events they have no explanation for, dozens of people were flooded with past accounts of unexplainable phenomena. We have gathered some spine-chilling responses from the thread to share with you, so get ready to go down this fright-inducing memory lane where scary monsters are only the beginning. Just to warn you, though, some of these stories aren’t for the faint of heart, so read them with caution! Keep reading to also find our in-depth interview about childhood memories with psychotherapist Laura Cavanagh. And if you have any similar experiences to share of your own, be sure to tell us all about them in the comments, we’re here to listen.

#1

I used to swim in the river in our town with my father . Everyone was doing it back then. I was about 7 y.o. and we went to our swimming tour. When we got out i touched something creepy with my foot and asked my dad to check. He pulled out a dead bloated guy. I had nightmares for years

Image credits: marousha_n

#2

I don't remember exactly how young I was at the time but it was really young. At the time my parents both worked full time and my very old grandmother lived with us and took care of me during the day. I was an only child at that time. We lived in flats.

Throughout the day grandmother would take long baths and I'd be seated in front of the TV till she got out and played with me. This one time she took much longer than usual. At some point after calling out to her and getting no response, I went to the bathroom door and knocked. When she didn't come out, I went in.

She was submerged to her chin. Her body was twisted. Her face was so contorted it looked like she was in agony. Her lips were completely skewed to one side of her face and her eyes were ... Idk.. just blank. I don't remember what happened next. But whenever my parents recounted the story they say I ran out screaming bloody murder out of the flat. Neighbors heard me, called an ambulance and my parents.

She had a stroke and would be bedridden for the rest of the her life. She died a year or so later I think. It's weird, I can't really remember what she looked like anymore but her face that time stuck with me. Parents told me I didn't speak for weeks afterwards.

Image credits: ninja-gecko

We reached out to Laura Cavanagh, a psychotherapist and psychology professor at Seneca College in Toronto, to learn more about childhood memories and their effect on our lives. "The poet William Wordsworth once said 'the child is the father of the man,' and Sigmund Freud — who is probably the most famous figure in the field of psychology, living or dead — certainly agreed that this was true," she told Bored Panda. "What Freud meant by this was that the early experiences of childhood have a profound, lifelong impact upon us, determining our developmental trajectory and course in life."

Psychotherapist Cavanagh pointed out that the idea of our early years being formative is widely accepted within popular culture, so for many of us, it seems like common sense. But in reality, things are a bit more complicated.

"It is only relatively recently that we have understood the dramatic impact of early childhood experiences," she said. Since memories from our infancy and toddlerhood are pretty patchy, it led many to believe that what happened in that period of our lives is less important compared to events from middle childhood, adolescence, and beyond. "Freud flipped this notion on its head when he theorized that not only were our early years critically important but that they would continue to shape us for the rest of our lives," Cavanagh added.

#3

Going to the bathroom in a department store. Sat down on the toilet to poop and just had a weird feeling. I bent down to look through a hole in the divider wall and I saw a eyeball staring back.

Image credits: Konebred

#4

I was nearly kidnapped by someone who drove up to my house and tried to entice me to come up to him at his car when I was about 5 or 6. I was playing in the yard by myself. Said he wanted me to show him on a map where a certain street was. Had his car door open and everything. Thank God I went inside to get my mom to help him because he was gone when she and I came back.

Image credits: Suspicious-Elk-3631

#5

When I was about 14 years old I was home alone while my parents were out visiting some friends. Around 9:30 at night, I suddenly hear some voices downstairs. I knew all the doors were locked and no one besides my parents could get in, so I was afraid the house was broken into, so I start to listen. It sounds like at least a dozen people having some sort of dinner party, though I can't make out exactly what they're saying. I make it halfway down the stairs, and I still hear the voices all talking. Finally I yell out "hello" and all the voices instantly stop and I didn't hear anything again.

Craziest thing I've ever experienced.

Image credits: Dork_Helmet

Studies show that Freud was right. According to the professor, he may have overstated by saying that our destiny was more or less set in stone by the age of five, but was certainly correct about the outsized influence of those early years. "Research in the field of developmental psychology, particularly in areas of infant attachment (which looks at how parent-infant bonding in the first year affects our developmental trajectory), has shown that these early experiences affect us throughout the course of our entire lives."

When it comes to disturbing and haunting childhood memories, they have a profound effect on our lives. "Whether we consciously remember these events or not, they are stored in our bodies and wired into our brains. They have the power to affect us, even if we aren’t able to recall them consciously. Frightening and traumatic experiences in childhood literally rewire our brain, so these memories have a profound effect on our behavior, even if they remain buried in our unconscious," Cavanagh told us.

#6

When I was a kid, I was misdiagnosed with cerebral palsy, and my parents took me to the "psychic" - some weird middle aged guy in a shabby flat who promised to help my condition. I remember him touching my neck and pulling my ears, and it really hurt, I was scared and wanted go home. I don't remember how it ended, but apparently after just two or three seances my dad went to this guy's house and seriously beat him up.

Image credits: the_amateon

#7

Okay so there’s a few bits of context;

Growing up I looked older than I was but it doesn’t change anything really, I was around 10 but I looked about 11/12.

I usually walked an old lady’s dog at the time, small pug around the block and she was super nice and payed me £1 for it.

I decided to go to my local shop which was only a 5 minute walk from my house.
Some guy came in while I was looking at the sweets and started talking to me, it was a long time ago I can’t remember the conversation but I remember parts of the more creepy bits.

He offered to buy me sweets, and a few fizzy drinks.
And being the glutinous 10 year old I was I accepted, payed around £20 on sweets alone.

He somehow knew I had a much younger sister and asked if she liked Bon-Bon’s I replied that I didn’t know but she probably couldn’t eat them yet.

And then when we got to the drinks he asked “what school do you go to?”

Keep in mind I’m 10, I’m alone at this shop and I didn’t know this guy.

I just pretended I didn’t know, but then he said my school.

“You go to [school]” right?”
My heart dropped for a second since again never seen this man before in my life.
I stupidly (probably put other kids in danger if this man had bad intentions.) said I went to a school down the hill from my actual school.

He then asked where I lived, and then it sorta clicked for me.
If my parents knew who this man was and he lived around the area he’d probably know where I stayed so why did he ask?
I replied next to the train station (opposite) and again he replied with another answer that scared me.

“I’ve seen you walking from [my street]”

As a 10 year old I was terrified not only from the fact 1. Why would he spend £20 on sweets alone (all together the drinks,sweets, crisps came to almost £30) but why is he asking questions to me, someone he didn’t know expecting an answer he knew.

I nervously laughed and once he payed he asked if I wanted him to walk me home since it was late.
(It was mid summer between 7-9pm so still light enough I could see)
I declined and told him my dad was waiting for me.

I walked down a certain street that turns to the trainstation but also turns to my actual street, also the same street friends, and other people who knew me lived so I felt more safe.

He did however walk me to the start of the street, but before the turn I said my dad was at the end waiting for me in his car.

I ran home, never talked about it to my mum.
She did question me about where I had gotten the stuff from I lied and said I found money.

Never saw him again, like EVER so I assume he didn’t even live near me.

Might not be super creepy but still creepy enough to myself to wonder wtf he was doing.

Image credits: Aveble

#8

When I was around 3 years old I fell into a 44 gallon drum filled with water that me and my little friend were looking into, I remember it being a beautiful sunny day and how clear the water looked.
Apparently my friend somehow pulled me out after I fell in but honestly I don't know how another 3 year old could do it, I don't remember anything else about it, I'm not sure where mum was and dad was at work.
For years I had nightmares about rust coloured clouds ballooning up, dark rusty clouds....it took me 30 years before I clicked it was the rust being stirred up by me trying to get out of that drum.

Image credits: IfHomerWasGod

While people say that kids are resilient little creatures, this is not actually the case. There’s often a delayed effect between when a child experiences a stressor and when the result of that stressor is evident. "Freud actually recognized this phenomenon: he said that middle childhood was a 'latency period' where everything seems fine, but you won’t see the impact of negative early experiences until adolescence or beyond."

Cavanagh mentioned an important case of research on the impact of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) by a physician Dr. Vincent Felitti who noticed that many of his obese adult clients reported abuse in childhood. "His patients recognized that their weight was a problem, but they also spoke of it as having once been a solution (for example, having gained weight to be invisible or to no longer be seen as an object of sexual desire)," she noted.

#9

When I was 8 year's old I was going to the shop near my house and I was about 15 steps away from the shop when an unknown man said to me to shake his hand,I did and then he pulled me and starting dragging me, I was shocked so I couldn't say anything and then a man came asking what was wrong and the unknown man said that I was his son and he didn't give me permission to go to the shop and was taking me home and at that point I lost it,I bit his hand and he let go of me and then I said to him " I don't know you " while running back to my house.

Still haunts me to this day...

Image credits: I_V_Y007

#10

When I was 9 or 10 I was laying in my bed wish was next to my (open) window, I was about to fall asleep when I heard inconsistent foot steps like someone had a limp, I thought it was my dad as he had a tendency to to get up at night and have a smoke and he also had a limp from a football injury so I brushed it off when I heard it again I started to wonder what it was and when it got closer to my window and stopped I freaked out and slipped under my blankets after maybe 5/6 minutes the noise moved away from my window it kept going on for an hour or two. The next morning I asked my parents if they went for a walk last night neither of them did, when I told them what happened they shot each-other a terrified look and told me to keep my window locked from then on

Image credits: Sid_the_gay_sloth

#11

Walking with my grandmother at night along a gravel road close to where she lives out in the country. We where heading home to my grandparents house. 6 year old me turn to my grandmother and ask who the lady who ran across the road behind us was. She turns around, see nobody and ask me to describe her. Down to a tee I describe a cruel woman who used to live not far away who was now 10 years dead.

I didn't live there so I didn't think much about it but according to my grandfather, my description of the lady I had seen was so on point that my grandmother never walked alone there after dark. That was 29 years ago and she still refuses to walk that road alone at night.

Image credits: ValkyrieUNIT

Professor Cavanagh, who has extensive experience working with addictions, sees a similar pattern with clients opening up about substance abuse. "They recognize that it has come to a point where it is destroying their lives, but they will often speak of how it started as a coping mechanism that worked for a time – to deal with haunting childhood memories, to cope with pain, or to manage anxiety."

"Felitti's peers were extremely skeptical of his observations, but Felitti was sure he was on to something important. He conducted a large-scale study on the impact of childhood abuse, and, later, other adverse childhood experiences," she continued. "He found that [ACEs] were correlated with a range of negative outcomes in adulthood — outcomes related to physical health, mental health, and psychosocial well-being." If you’re interested in your own ACEs score, be sure to check it out right here.

#12

Someone rang once as I was getting out of the shower and so I answered the phone in a towel and a shower cap. The caller started saying disgusting things to me. I froze until he said he could see me and I realised he couldn’t see me because then he’d know how hilarious I looked so I told him to f**k off and hung up

But man I was frozen in fear for a while there. I think I was 11

Image credits: zeldasusername

#13

I was walking through the woods with a couple of friends and we came across a clearly abandoned car, I have no clue how it even got there, it was deep in the woods. We were all kinda creeped out, but I decided to go in for a closer look. Some of the windows were smashed, some were covered in filth & grime. I peeped through a smashed window and saw what was distinctly a human leg. I screamed and ran, we all ran and never went back.

I never told anyone, but I still think about it all the time.

Image credits: HuffleSlut_

#14

When I was in elementary school (probably 8 or 9), we were all on the playground. Probably like 100 kids throughout all the outdoor areas of the playground, teachers, etc. basketball court, jungle gym, random field areas, etc. middle of the day at recess. Bright and sunny and not a cloud in the sky.

I was looking across the playground and all of the sudden there was one “flash” where everyone was running inside in unison, and then almost immediately, another flash where everybody was f*****g GONE, not a single other soul on the playground, and the sky was suddenly very dark and cloudy and stormy, and at the second “flash” there was an extremely loud crack of Thunder that rumbled and echoed for what seemed like minutes. It was clearly later in the day and I was so f*****g confused.

I made my way back to the classroom and it was probably 5 minutes before the final dismissal bell rang. The teacher was asking me where had I been? And I got in trouble.

I’m guessing I fell asleep or something but holy s**t man. I’ve never experienced anything like that before or since.

Image credits: Umbra427

"What I find with my clients is that it is not so much that people can’t recall their unpleasant childhood memories, but that they have difficulty contextualizing them. People will minimize what has happened to them, underestimate the seriousness of what they experienced, or compare themselves to someone that they think had it 'worse'. Talking about it helps to put it in context. When people are able to acknowledge a memory as painful, it makes it easier to process how it impacts them today, and how to let it go."

#15

When I was 10 years old, a new family moved into our neighborhood. They were odd, but I became friends with their daughter, and she'd tell me that her house was haunted. I was intrigued, but given their weirdness, I thought nothing of it. One day, I was playing in the yard with her when a disheveled-looking man came running out their front door, followed by her parents. The man proceeded to run full speed into the woods, with her dad yelling at him. That man had been living in their attic and was keeping it locked from the inside. The dad finally pried it open and chased him off. To this day, I check under, inside, above, behind, and outside every house I have ever lived in and regularly clear corners when I get home.

Image credits: jamesgravley

#16

I was in Kindergarten and my family had just gotten back from Disneyland..so it was pretty late. I remember being in my room I shared with my brother, when our dad asked me to go back downstairs, retrieve an item ( can’t remember what) from the duffle bag on the table, and bring it back upstairs. I comply. When I get to the duffle bag, it begins to violently move—as if something was trapped inside and was desperately trying to get out. I was horrified and ran back upstairs. When I returned without the item—my dad was upset and went down and got it. My mother asked what was wrong and I told her. She tried to say it was the cat..but the cat was with my brother when I left the room AND when I returned.. when I said this, she attributed it to me still being half asleep from the car ride home.

I know what I saw.

Image credits: DitaVonTz

#17

My brother was murdered by his girlfriend when they where both drunk and high. I was merely 11, by brother had been 17 going on 18. I found him. Beaten to death by her. The creepiest moment of my life will always be seeing him like that. He was just coated in blood, cold, looked afraid. The creepiest part was hearing his last, wheeze of a breath. Its obviously stuck with me. If anyone has any questions, id be happy to answer.

Image credits: dying-houseplant

She stressed that trauma is defined more by the effects it has on a person than its outward features. "Of course, its effects depend on the person who experiences the event — their particular psychological vulnerability and neurological wiring. Because children’s perceptions are filtered through their own context, events may be traumatic because of how they were presented to a child — either explicitly or implicitly."

For example, if a child loses a pet as a result of an accident, it may not be traumatic in nature. "While sad, it is a normative event, part of the ups and downs of life," Cavanagh explained. But if the child is blamed for the accident, the guilt and shame they experience may be overwhelming and can lead to trauma and a lasting psychological impact. "It is not so much about the loss of the pet, but the context surrounding the experience. So while the person might say, as an adult, 'well, lots of people lose a pet in childhood,' the reality is that not many people face ongoing hostility and blame from their family around this loss. It is the context surrounding the event that can lead it to be traumatogenic."

#18

My dad and I (probably 8 at the time - too big for a booster seat, too small for the front seat so I was still in the back) were driving home from something. It was a two-lanes-each-way divided highway and there were a lot of tractor trailers. My dad went to pass one, but we ended up getting boxed in. And it wasn’t just a slow-truck-slowly-passing-another-truck thing, it went on long enough that it was clearly on purpose. So here we are, one truck purposely going slow in front of us, one blocking the side of us, and our “open side” was against solid rock as they tried to push us off the road. I remember my dad being freaked out and trying to get the license plates of the trucks to give to the police, who he couldn’t call at the moment because we were in a cell phone dead zone. I looked up from the book I was reading and made eye contact with one of the drivers - he had a big white beard and looked straight at me with sinister smile that, had I not already stopped believing in Santa Claus, would’ve made me scared of Christmas.

Eventually we got to a town and were able to get into a parking lot, where my dad called the police. We waited ten minutes or so to get distance from the trucks, then got back on the road and thankfully didn’t cross them again.

Image credits: poachels

#19

I remember when I was about 12 onward I'd randomly wake up in the middle of the night to my (abusive) mother standing in the doorway. She had this look she would give when she was particularly messed up between the alcohol and opioids and sleeping pills she'd mix. It was absolutely satanic. On multiple occasions I would wake up to her just staring at me, but way longer than just to "check" on me. She would just stand there for what seemed like forever, and if I even slightly moved she'd scream at me for being awake and punish me.

One day my dad called me out to the living room and my mother is there looking pretty concerned telling him he was taking things to far. He tells me "Your mom says you've been laying in bed crying at night because you're afraid someone's going to come in your room and kill you? What's that about?"

I was totally confused and just blew it off as one of my mom's drunk/high delusions and told him I absolutely didn't. It wasn't until I was an adult that I realized that whenever my mother said something about someone else, she was projecting. Like she told me for years that she suspected that my dad was cheating on her. She was actually cheating on him.

B***h was probably getting f****d up out of her mind and thinking about killing me in my own bed.

No. We don't talk any more and I've informed her I will use whatever force necessary to remove her from my property if she ever gets it in her head to show up.

Image credits: crochet4cptsd

#20

I woke up and it felt like someone or something was on top of me stopping me from being able to move or breathe. i could hear heavy breathing but it wasn't mine. on top of this, i could not move how hard i tried. i kept trying to say 'go away' but no words could come out. when i eventually was able to move i relaxed again and felt the pressure again and heard the heavy breathing that wasnt mine. i had to get out of bed after that. still to this day i remember it clearly. sleep paralysis is something else. whats more is later that day i was walking to school and i see a man covered in blood on the pavement. needless to say that day was the creepiest day ive ever experienced.

Image credits: Specialist_Salt7974

After all, the first step of the healing process is admitting they impacted our lives by sparking fears or causing a toll on our mental health. Because when we bring hurtful memories to light, they lose their power. "When we talk about our traumatic experiences, it moves those memories from the 'survival' part of our brain to our logical, rational cortex. It doesn’t mean that those memories are no longer painful, but they don’t have the power to send us into fight-flight-or-freeze anymore."

#21

I have vague memories of arriving home, changing out of my school uniform, and immediately going to bed

One of those times my mom checked me out and she saw bruises on my thighs but when she went to talk, the school principal told her not to worry

Eye, my mother couldn't change schools, so easily because I grew up in a rural area

Some time later, my mother made me go to a psychologist and he confirmed to my mom that i had been abused by a school teacher

My brain blocked those memories as a defense

They finally arrested that teacher because my mom, along with other moms, denounced the guy

Image credits: HelicopterDirect5373

#22

When I was fourteen I was on my way to swim practise when a lady asked me for directions to wherever the f**k, I can't remember.

I was a dumb, stupid, naive dumbfuck who didn't question why the f**k she later asked me what my name and age was. I've never, ever told strangers my name, I give whatever fake name pops into my head, but when I said that I was fourteen she turned to the man she was with (her boyfriend) and said, "She is fourteen." in spanish. (I spoke the most basic of spanish back then).

He replied something I didn't understand, but I got this really uncomfortable feeling so I said, "Sorry, I need to get to training." and rushed away. I memorized what he said then called my (hispanic) friend and asked what it meant.

She said, "It means, "s**t, too old."

Bro, I've never been so terrified in my f*****g life. Even now, almost nine years later, if some random stranger asks for directions while I'm out I give the quickest answer I can then f**k off. I don't f**k with random people outside anymore

#23

I used to hang out at a bookstore/coffeeshop when I was 13-14.

I had many instances of middle-aged women hitting on me. A few offered to take me out for lunch or buy the books I was looking at. One offered to take me back to her place so we could have a dip in her hottub.

I think the thing that creeps me out the most is that female pedophiles have so little fear of getting caught, and feel like its ok to rape a minor just because their a woman.

It also creeps me out that whenever I tell people about this, 20% of the comments are "yeah wow, that's nuts.... so anyway" and 80% of the time its "SO DID YOU F**K THAT MILF BRO?"

If it was 45 year old men asking a 13 year old girl out for lunch or over for a swim in their hottub he'd be the subject of a national manhunt.

"In addition, there are effective psychotherapeutic treatments for traumatic stress disorders. Cognitive processing therapy (CPT), prolonged exposure therapy, and eye movement desensitization & reprocessing (EMDR) are evidence-based interventions that show excellent outcomes in trauma treatment," she said, stressing the importance of finding an experienced provider to lead you through your journey.

#24

I have a memory of tall man wearing a red and blue paisley suit appearing, watching, and telling me that everything was okay. I have never seen this man in my life but I think it might be a ghost that supposedly follows my mom. It was creepy and scary but it would always calm me down upon awakening. I still see him in my dreams today usually in times when I'm extremely stressed and depressed, which is all the time but usually when it peaks, it still calms me down and make me feel better when I wake up. I might write a song about it sometime.

#25

I was riding bikes with two friends on a road that cars rarely drove on. We were all boys and about 13 years old.

An old guy in a van slows down next to us and says in a slow voice, "hey, I know your parents wouldn't want you to accept money from strangers... But it's ok this time." He had some cash in his hand and showed it to us.

We declined a noped the f**k outta there

Image credits: Adriendo

#26

Had a regular babysitter that I still know and despise until this day for shady behavior, when I was small (no idea when because of how small I was but I think under 5y/o?) he used to grip me by the sides of my head and swing me around until I was crying so hard he would slap me "for being upset."

At 16 I found out I had a brain injury most people are BORN with that had no logical explanation.

I went though years of extensive therapy and ended up remembering a lot of horrible stuff, including that. Made the connection, talked to my neurologist who had been trying to solve my migraines for almost a decade at that point, and it was too late to fix it with surgery. So, now I have a brain injury that could kill me with no notice for no f*****g reason.

Thanks, Anthony.



ETA; I experienced a lot of abuse that was ignored or accepted at the time by my mom. I was unable to remember a lot of my life before this particular immersion therapy.

Image credits: TheTastySpoonicorn

While opening up about our past experiences helps us cope with their impact, there’s a certain sense of fascination that draws people to consume these stories. The professor told us there’s no doubt we want to soak in the mysterious and dark elements of life. "This is really a cross-cultural phenomenon that stands over historical time: people like to get a little freaked out! Some evolutionary psychologists say that sharing horror stories helps to promote the survival of our species: we get to warn people how to avoid or survive danger without them actually having to be in harm’s way. We get to learn how to cope in the face of fear, in the absence of an actual threat to our survival," Cavanagh concluded.

#27

i got my first bikini when i was 5 or 6. i loved that bathing suit. i only got to wear it once because the comments my dad and his friends were making were making me violently uncomfortable.

i didn’t wear another bikini until i was in high school, and my dad still makes comments about my body.

on more than one occasion he’s called me sexy and has mistaken me for not his child when i dress up sometimes and will make comments to other people.

im not sure if this counts as creepy but that’s the first thing that i thought of.

#28

In my old hometown, we weren't allowed to play out of the yard. The highway was at one end and the bayou at the other. Like alligators walking down the road was a normal occurrence ya know?

So anyway, there was a girl who would ride her bike up and down the road and we'd chit chat. She was maybe.....7? 8? I know I was like 5 or 6, we weren't too far apart. Anyway, she would come and talk and then we would part. Sometimes she came with other kids, sometimes not.

One day, she invites me to her birthday party. I saw I have to ask my mom if I can go. She said she lived a couple houses down, no big deal. Mom says no. You don't know her, she doesn't live on this street, etc. I was upset, so unfair, she's my friend! I never saw her again and thought she was mad at me.

I went back to visit family and brought up this story with my mom and aunt about how weird it was I never saw her after that. They got really quiet and my aunt tells me that there was a girl by that name who was found in this guy's house along with a bunch of other kids. He did awful things to them and they died.

Here's where it's creepy: they would have been dead by the time I was talking to them. I never felt so cold and we all agreed to never talk about it again

#29

I was playing in these woods near my house where I always went with my cousin. I saw a shoe in the mud and tried to pull it up, but it wouldn’t come easy. I thought maybe there was a stick in it that was more in the mud. Then it 'computed,' and I let go. I got away from it and said, 'Let’s leave.' I don’t think I ever went back to that area again. Now I’m not even sure it happened. Like, maybe it was a really vivid dream.

Image credits: gerdataro

#30

I remember about a few DAYS ago, I was being the average 14 year old. Listening to songs and playing video games. When I heard a set of footsteps in my kitchen. It was 3:00 AM and everyone was asleep. I didn't hear a door open or anything. I just heard footsteps. I open my door look left and right. Then I decide that I'm being stupid, and get some food. But then I heard footsteps going down the stairs. So I rush to my front windows look outside, and I see someone running away from my house.
Literally the scariest s**t

#31

won’t forget this. i was getting ready for bed one night, mom was in the living room watching her show, and as i’m laying down i heard someone whisper my name as if they were directly in my face. it was pitch black and my door was closed so i instantly yelled for my mom, and when i told her what happened she said “it might’ve been me saying something to myself”, which would make sense since she was watching her show, but idk. it honestly felt LITERALLY in my face

Image credits: anon

#32

Being in the bath with my disgusting stepdad and my mum and my brother. All in one bubble bath. I must’ve been about 3 and I distinctly recall not liking it, feeling weird and not wanting to be naked around the stepdad. My mum maintains that this “didn’t happen” … but it did.

Image credits: BeEccentric

#33

Okay, I probably never have ever told this to anyone. So. I'm kindergarden aged, family is at home at the evening, I am in the hall, probably hear something or want someone to pay attention to me or something, so I open the door leading to the kitchen and I see my dad and brother, who must have been around 16, holding my mom by her arms and legs, bending down and... like... banging her to the floor. Mum has a painful expression on her face, dad and bro are looking serious, concentrating, not violent or anything, but the process itself looked pretty violent to me. I look at them in terror and say: Hey...Don't fight... Dad tells me to go back to the hall, I get back, just sit there in the dark alone, listen to mom wailing, and... Fifteen years later I still have no clue what the hell that could have been. Physical violence or abuse or anything never really occured in our family when I was young, and even when it did later it wasn't that tipe, and if I asked them now they would propaply say wtf am I talking about.

But really, what COULD that be? Is there any sort of medical aid thechnike like that or what?

Sorry for typos and/or bad English.

Image credits: Current_Complaint703

#34

Me and my two friends build a "treehouse" in the forest, near our houses. It wasn't really a treehouse, since it was on the ground, but good enough to play. We were all about 6-7 y.o. and this happened around spring because there was snow on the forest.

We were playing and I went outside of our treehouse to gather something and saw a man about 50 meters away from us. NBD, there's plenty of trails and people jogging, walking their dogs and so on, so I didn't think much of it and went back to our treehouse.

He followed me and I didn't catch him.
We were playing and he came to look our treehouse, complimenting it and kneeled to the "door". Then he asks if he could show us something and pulls his d**k out. He asks if we want to touch it, go on, you can touch it. We wouldn't. Then he "peed" in front of us and I remember thinking how strange it was that his pee wasn't yellow, it was white.

We told him to leave and I think he might heard some dogwalker, because he left. We went home and told one of our dads about that man and he called straight to the cops. Me, being the oldest, descripted his clothes to the police and they went on looking. Sometime later cops called back to my friend's dad and said they might have caught the guy, would the kids be able to ID him? We looked at the balcony, but it wasn't him. IIRC they never caught him.

I don't think it traumatized me or anything, because nothing really happened and I was too little to understand anything besides that peeing someone else's treehouse was rude. As an adult I have realized what he did back there and ran some scenarios thru my head what COULD have happened. It's been nearly 30 years and I can still see his smile when he looked us, and it kinda creeps me, because that smile wasn't anywhere near normal. I remember what he looked like and what he was wearing.

Image credits: Peikkotytto

#35

I used to have a lot of febrile spasms, and some of them were quite dangerous. I vividly remember waking up in a hospital, with a green curtain around my bed, thinking I was dead. Then I realized people talking, I recognized the voice of my mum and tried to make some noise but I just wasn't able to. It felt like they didn't care, while in hindsight they were discussing further procedures to deal with the situation, thinking that there is no way I would be awake considering the data they had from my medical assessments.

Image credits: FaKeDerEchte

#36

I always had this early childhood memory of a time we went to visit some family in Florida. I don’t know how old I was, but somewhere between 6-8 years old I think. I went on a walk around the block with my uncle, and he said something like “hey my friend lives here, let’s stop in and say hi for just a minute.” The next memory I have we are in the living room, the furniture, carpet etc is all that very 80s brown/green/mustard earth tones, and it is dimly lit because the curtains are closed. I’m sitting on the couch being bored or something while my uncle talked to this guy, not paying attention until I could hear my uncle’s voice getting louder. I hear his friend saying something like “come on man I’ll trade you an 8 ball for an hour with the kid.” It stuck out in my mind because I knew what an “8 ball” was in the context if the magic type, and didn’t understand why this guy wanted to give one to my uncle. My uncle seemed mad and I didn’t understand that either, and we left right after. I don’t remember talking about it with my uncle, I think because I could tell he was mad and that confused and scared me.

My uncle had a crack and cocaine problem that eventually gave him a heart attack and killed him when I was about 19, and it wasn’t until then that the memory clicked into place and I realized what had actually almost happened to me. I have no idea why my uncle thought it was a good idea to bring a kid to a pick up, but I’m grateful he didn’t pimp me out. Yikes.

Image credits: YaBoyfriendKeefa

#37

When I was about 9 or 10, there was a child abductor and murder that was in the local news. Both of my parents were local police officers, my dad was working on the case, I think. My parents talked about it a lot in passing. One thing they specifically talked about was the white van with a circular window on the side of the van.
Well during that time, I was in a knee brace due to recurrent knee dislocations. However I was an active child, so I didn’t let it keep me from going out anywhere. Well one day I decided to go with my sisters and their friends to collect paper money for our paper route. Well as we were walking, me limping, a white van with the circular window passed by our group. The first time we didn’t think of it because we lived on a main road. After the 3rd time seeing it, we all got a little scared. My sisters and their friends were saying how they can just make a run for it, they’ll be fine. At that point, I started sobbing cause I knew I wouldn’t get away cause of my knee. My sisters ended up walking me home and told me to lock the door, then they left me by myself.
I remember spending the next couple hours avoiding windows and doors, in case the van saw where I lived. It was pretty terrifying as a child. When I think about it now, I wonder how much my sisters might have exaggerated what they saw in order to scare me, so they wouldn’t have me tagging along.

#38

I’ve lived in a small mountain town in Colorado for 17 years. when my friends and I got our licenses, we’d drive around in the mountains when we got bored. This one area we went to frequently is beautiful, but it’s known to be pretty sketchy—people shoot guns in the wrong areas, there’s a lot of drug use when people party, and bodies have been occasionally found back there. We were driving around one night when we suddenly passed a man walking on the road. It was weird because we hadn’t seen him in the headlights initially, it was more like he appeared out of nowhere as we were passing him. I thought he was walking a little weird as I looked back at him so I asked my friend to stop, maybe he was hurt or something. He paused for like 10 seconds when we stopped, and then he started RUNNING at the vehicle. Not a “oh s**t let me catch up to them real quick” jog with a wave or anything like that, a full blown sprint like he had a personal vendetta against us. It freaked us out and my friend hit the gas again. We did call the police just to make sure we didn’t leave him in danger, but didn’t hear anything else about it.

And this is more lighthearted, but when the game Until Dawn first came out, I was freshly living alone in my own place for the first time at 22. I was PETRIFIED of the dark for weeks after watching the playthrough. I had to start sleeping with a light on because I was having nightmares, and I was genuinely so terrified of the monsters in that game potentially busting in through my sliding door windows. I couldn’t even bring myself to move around in my bed to adjust and get comfortable. I knew it was ridiculous but just couldn’t shake that fear for weeks.

#39

Went to my friends grandads when we were like 12. He had painting of huge c***s in chains and stuff all over the walls. Needed to go and he tried to lock me in. I was crying so much and he was saying "everything was fine until "FagnusTwatfield" started being an arsehole. My friend (who was defintly in hindsight being abused) begged him to let me go) he relented and even got me a black cab home with him in it (as I type this probably to find out where I lived) the kicker ? My mum said I deserved it.

That's the abridged version.

#40

So... I nearly got kidnapped


And My least favourite teacher saved me.
Basically I was late leaving from my school so no other kids were around.
Then a man came up to me and offered to bring me to the sweet shop I said no but he urged and urged me. My teacher was on the other side of the parking lot when she noticed and kept her eye on me.
And he kept looking over to see if my teacher was gone yet but she stayed to make sure I was there.
Eventually I walked over to her to try to detour the man and it worked.

I didn't really understanding the implications of what could of happened since I was 7 but this now scares me to think about

Edit:I forgot to finish story but I actually went to the sweet shop after once I saw him leave lol
Which probably wasnt smart but eh all for sweets amirite


Edit: For full stops

#41

This story is not paranormal, but still freaked me out.

When I was 4 or 5, my parents would take me to my grandpas house every weekday so I wouldn’t be home alone. My grandma had work, but she would come pick me up around the time my sister got out of school so we could both go home. My sister wasn’t feeling well one day, so we both went to my grandparents house. Everything was normal for a few hours, he made us breakfast and turned on cartoons for us. My sister wanted to watch something else so she turned around to him and asked him to put on her favorite show. He didn’t respond. He had a weird look on his face, like he was spaced out but angry at us at the same time. He clearly wasn’t himself. It was only a bit unsettling, so my sister asked him again. He started making groaning sounds, like he wasn’t fully aware of what was happening. My sister got up and dragged me down the hall. We had to pass by his chair and when we did he grabbed my arm. It wasnt like a playful thing, he was holding on tight. It hurt really bad so I tried to get away. I eventually did and we continued running down the hall. We got into the bathroom and my sister said he was playing a game. She said he was a zombie and we need to find a cure for him while staying hidden. We stayed in the bathroom for ten minutes and then we tip toed back. He was totally normal when we got back and it seemed like he had no memory of what just happened.
This happened again when I was alone with him. I didn’t know how to use a phone because I was so little, so I just grabbed his flip phone and hid behind his chair. I tried to call someone but I obviously couldn’t. I had to sit behind his chair while listening to him make that scary groaning sound. My grandma eventually came home and he was just suddenly normal again.

My family says he has a sickness. They call it a seizure, but I’ve tried looking for a seizure that has similar symptoms to the way he acts when he has them, but I’ve had no luck. Looking back, it probably isn’t that scary, but it has stuck with me for a long time.

#42

A man yanked me off a swing in a play park (my Dad had taken my brother to pee). Luckily my dog reacted, snapping her lead she barked and snapped at him, he bolted.

#43

Nearly died with my kid neighbor on a sled when we were little, Somehow it veered off into the road and the car almost didn’t stop. Realized I was ok with dying, and shielded the kid because there wasn’t enough time to throw her off the sled without her getting seriously injured.

#44

I had this cool night vision goggles I got when I was 8 or 9 years old that would only see stuff in black and white. It was late one night and I was messing around with the camera function on it, taking photos and recording videos when I see this girl. I only have a brother so it couldn't've been him, because this girl was wearing a dress and she was very thin, unlike my brother. I take off the goggles and there's nothing in front of me, but I get this horrid feeling of "I've seen something I shouldn't have" and turn off the camera and cry myself to sleep.

The next day I try to forget about it and start using the goggles again when I see this moving orange ball floating throughout my house, absolutely terrifying and I get the same feeling. Little me decides to not be as afraid and keep watching it and following it. I followed it to my garage where it disappeared and the room got very hot very fast, I ran out of there and was terrified to go back for weeks. That was years ago and I still have no explanation to what any of that was.

#45

The park down the street my mom took us to play and walk the dogs....it was large with some very isolated areas that became the woods once you took certain paths. We lived in a bad neighborhood but I didn't really understand that. Lots of creepy s**t went down there but we never stopped going and generally went almost daily.

Some examples....

A certain isolated section was a hangout for paint sniffers. They would lay in tall grass and get high so you couldn't see them unless you were basically on top of them. They were sketchy, disheveled, high as f**k and usual had metallic paint on their hands and faces. Hearing spray paint cans rattle still gives me chills.

There was what looked like a kids stick fort but was clearly where a homeless person was living... Obviously homeless people aren't inherently creepy but my mom let us play in it amoung their things. That was irresponsible, potentially dangerous and rude. We never saw the person or people living there somehow. But I wonder if they saw us?

We came across several sort of traps on the paths to the fort though. Metal wires strung across the path fastened to branches at neck height....sharp sticks stuck up in the ground... Stuff like that.

This was in the Midwest and there was a lake right there too, so when it iced over during the winter we walked on it but my mom also let us walk on it when it started to thaw. I remember walking on it seeing the water bubble and move underneath and feeling how soft the thawing ice felt. I was nervous but I didn't fully know better or how incredibly dangerous this was.

One year there was a serial killer operating in the area and the secluded woodsy place was where he was burning and dumping the bodies of his victims. We still went there all the time.

Looking back I low-key wonder if my mom was like trying to kill us. Like not really but kind of. She was in a terribly abusive relationship and when I think about her life then she must have been really unhappy. Aside from what I'm describing here she was a great mom who was incredibly loving and responsible but this all makes me absolutely cringe and get goosebumps when I think back on it.

#46

I only vaguely remember this but my family remember it well

I was very small, maybe about 4/5 and I lived with my mum and my Nan. My nan rushed out of the house one day and came back a few hours later.

I was sat on the stairs when she came in and I could see my auntie Rita behind her waving at me but she wasn’t speaking. I asked nan why Rita was with her..

She had gone to the hospital. Rita had died an hour previously. Still gives me the heeby jeebies to this day

#47

A shady homeless looking dude suddenly appearing from the woods and beckoning my friend and I to come with him. We hightailed it the f**k out of there.

#48

I was in grade 11 and left school a little later than I usually do for no reason that I can remember. As I almost got home I deviated from my usual path home for some reason. I rounded a corner and saw my neighbors little sister talking to a strange man (she was in like grade 5 or 6 at the time)...she looked over and saw me and had this look of extreme relief and screamed my name and ran towards me and hugged me. The man ran away. I never forgot that day and always think about what could have happened. I walked with her when I could to and from school for awhile after that.

#49

I grew up in the middle of Australia. For some context my parents are British and had lived in the country for years. Anyway as most people know the middle of Australia is a desert and living there has its pros and cons. By far the creepiest thing I remember from my time there was finding a human tooth around 20 mins away from my house. It came up in a conversation after I moved to the UK with my sister.

Edit: I forgot to mention that there were a few teeth and they looked to be human

#50

It isn’t too creepy but when i was like 9 there was this rumour in school that the girls bathrooms were haunted(i’m pretty sure me and my friends started this rumour lmao) but no one actually thought it was real obviously. When i went in the bathrooms alone at break time i heard this girl crying(like full mental breakdown crying)so i told a teacher but when she went in the bathroom like 30 secs later there was absolutely no one there and no one on the yard looked like they had been crying.

#51

When I was 16, my room was right at the top of very steep stairs. Like, you're at the top of the stairs, turn right without moving and you're in my doorway. I didn't have an actual door, it was a curtain stapled to the ceiling. My mom is obese and never came up this steep stairs. My mom and step-dad were abusive physically, mentally, and emotional.

Well, im sitting there in my room chillin on the computer, and I looked over because I saw the curtain swing open. My mom was sitting sloppily in the doorway leaning on the side of it. I had no idea at the time, but she was super high from meth and cocaine. Her face was saggy and looked kinda grey and red, she kinda looked half dead and half possessed. I asked her what she was doing there and she responded with "You should have tried harder to kill yourself, you can't even do that right. You're the reason our lives are horrible and your the reason we can't feed your brothers cuz you cost too much money to take care of. You're worthless. A complete waste of space. Try harder next time".

I was used to hearing her say bad things about me, but she had never flat out tell me to try to kill myself again. I was honestly more shocked she was up there in the first place and concerned cuz the way she looked, and me not knowing she was on drugs, I thought she was sleepwalking.

I didn't want her to fall down the stairs, her being in that state so I went over and said "let's get you back downstairs". I went to put my arm around her to help her up and she jerked away while saying " get the FUVK away from me " and then she feel down roughly 40 very steep stairs. I was so scared for her cuz she could have died and she was sitting at the bottom of the stairs just screaming and crying hysterically in pain. From the base of the stairs to the living room where her chair was was about a 10 second walk and it took over an hour and a half for me to carry her (again, she was pretty big) to her chair. No one else helped.

Turns out she broke her ankle in 5 spots. Yikes. A few years ago, I was 25. I had gained alittle more wisdom about the world and the things that happened in my childhood not being normal/so extreme. This was not the first time s**t got crazy. I was used to it. I realized she was on drugs. I confronted her about it and she said yes. I asked her if thats why she said those things and asked if thats why the situation happened and she said im full of s**t, she would never do or say anything so awful to me. It turned into a fight until my brother spoke up, overhearing us. His room was at the top of the staira...walk bout 3 feet forward, instead of turning right and you're in his room....the stairway was right on the edge of his room and mine. He said "Mom. I was there. It happened. I heard the whole thing. I just pretended to sleep." And she was floored.

Now, im turning 28 in 1 week, and at this moment, my mom has been clean for almost 3 years (my birthday is May 1st and her "sober anniversary " is May 17th). Now that's she is drug free she has been the most caring, lovely, genuinely kind soul. We have had dozens and dozens of very productive conversations about our past both individually and collectively. She has divorced my step dad and is living on her own in the same apartment complex as me, actually. She is a volunteer AA and NA (narcotics anonymous) representative, trying to help others now that they helped her so much.

I never thought I'd see the day when I would feel her love. I work in the Emergency Room in a small town and im alone and bored most days. Even today, as I was typing this on my phone at work, I had to put my phone down because she came and surprised me with coffee to help me get through the shift alittle easier, give me hugs and kisses, and a short lovely conversation.


Things are so much better now, but I will never forget that encounter. The whole thing was bad, but I will never forget that half dead, demonic look. It still haunts me, but im so glad its gone.

#52

I went with my mom who was a psychiatric nurse to her job at a state run psychiatric facility to grab her check. I saw a man run down the stairs screaming and flailing his arms and about 3-4 guys grab him and put him on a gurney for mechanical and chemical restraints. I must have been around 9-10. It was scary at the time but then I ended up becoming an LCSW and helped open residential program for adolescents with behaviors similar to this.

#53

Used to holiday in the Scottish Highlands. Friends of the family had a cottage there in the middle of nowhere. It was always creepy just because it was so isolated. Anyway, one day I went outside and heard the most unearthly sound I have ever experienced. It sounded like a robot demon cackling insanely while simultaneously crying in agony. It just sounded...wrong. I went inside, white as a sheet, and told my dad. He grabbed a stick (LOL) said "come on!" and set off to find the source. We homed in on the sound and saw it was coming from the area close to the water tank which filled from the stream and supplied the cottage. There was clearly something not from this world stuck inside the tank. We nervously approached and circled the tank. My dad suddenly said "ahhhh" and strides confidently to the tank. Now, I don't fully understand the setup of the water system, but there was some kind of small vent pipe on the tank. A large leaf had got stuck in the pipe and created a reed (like a woodwind instrument) and the tank was acting like a giant amplifier/ reverb chamber. The sound was channeled down the valley the stream was in and straight to the cottage. I can still hear the sound in my head as I type this - absolutely demonic. I still want to know how my dad thought he was going to tackle a slobbering hellbeast with a 3ft stick!

#54

One time when i was around 9 or so we had guests over at our house for a few days, and since i had the largest room thet stayed in mine which meant i had to sleep in my younger sisters who was 4 at the time. Well on the 2nd night of me sleeping in the room i slept on the mattress on the floor and she was on the bed and at around 2 in the morning i was woken up from the sound of muttering. I got up and looked over at my sister who was facing my direction but with her eyes closed( i didnt noticed they were closed at the time) so i just started back at her, this is where it starts to get creepy. She then started to cry out of nowhere and saying help me over and over again, so i panicked and went over to her then layed her down, and she then started repeating in a kind of angry tone i had never heard her use saying turn off the fan that was next to her. She then ended up sitting up again and turned it back on and start crying again so i got into the bed and hugged her till she stopped.
The next morning i asked my mum if my sister ever talks in her sleep & she said no. So it was a strange experience and i struggled sleeping the next few days

#55

This story is when i was 8 years old. I was born and lived until i was 12 years old in Albania. My dad used to raise chicken and other non harming animals. Once my dad sended me to close the dors of the animals "houses" it was about 9pm and dark as hell. At one moment i her this sound that I cannot find words to descrive it . Like some yelling but It sounded sike a wolf or a pitbull dog . I was really scared from the dark . But the sound gave me chills and I ran home like a bullet. I told my parenti but the told me that was probably a dog from far away , but it sounded like it was 10-15 ft away from me . I dont know if this is a creepy memory but this story still hunts my childhood

#56

There was this one time I fell asleep in my houses living room. I wake up to find an orange silhouette of light just staring at me. The weirdest thing is that it’s eyes and mouth which we’re also bright simple silhouettes would fade in and out. I’m heavily suspecting it was sleep paralysis as I remember not being able to move.

#57

Years ago my bedroom was in the basement, and with the way my room was set up I could see the bottom of the stairs from my bed.

I was napping one day and suddenly jerked awake, and a shadowy figure was sitting on the stairs, watching me. I could feel pure anger and hatred radiating from this figure as it watched me, and my instincts were screaming that whatever it was wanted me dead.

My body was shaking and reacted on its own, moving my arms onto to a defensive position.

After a few seconds the figure suddenly vanished and I could move again. I was freaked out and went upstairs to watch TV.

It happened again a few weeks later, and it was the last time.

#58

I was 9 years old. I lived in a small town far from the city, where we all knew each other. Summer was cold, rainy and windy. It was a rainy day and I was in my bed, until I heard a loud noise coming from outside. It was like a gunshot or a firework. I went out to check and noticed that on the glass was written "run, watch out for her" I thought it was a joke from a friend or smthng, but when I came out I heard a loud scream coming from my parents' room. I went as fast as I could, but they were just sleeping. I woke them up scared and told them what happened. My mother went with me to look at the letters on the glass, while my father went to get his gun. When we went, the glass was just badly fogged up and there was nothing written on it. My mother thought it was a dream, but I swear I heard that strange sound and saw that sentence written on it. My mother started to become more distant, until one day she left the house. Only a few months ago I was informed that my mother was in an asylum and had committed several crimes. It was the most surreal thing that ever happened to me.


(I used translator, sorry if the english is bad, and this is a true story just its very sumed up)

#59

I'd legitimately blacked it out, because it was so traumatic, but as an adult, a beloved aunty brought it up for some unfathomable reason, and ever since, I can't forget it.

When I was small, like still in diapers small, my working mother had to hire out babysitting for me while she went to work to earn a living. Sometimes, my grandmother would pick me up from said babysitter's and take me home where we all three lived. This day, my grandmother noticed that I was sullen and more taciturn than usual. I now know I was autistic, but rural Indiana in the 70s, no one knew what autism was. She reached across the bench seat in the car to try to touch me and I recoiled. When she got me home, she checked me up and found bruising all up under my diaper. Like serious bruising. Sexual assault bruising. She took me to the same hospital where I was born, and I guess my mom met us there. I don't remember any of the exam, or the abuse itself. I just remember the "babysitter's boyfriend" as the culprit. It was later discovered that he was A.W.O.L. from the Army (this was after Vietnam), and eventually disappeared from the area altogether.

I remember taking college classes and learning that in our lifetimes, 20% of women will have experienced at least one sexual assault. I wondered why that statistic bothered me so damn much. Now, I know, it's because I didn't make it out out diapers before mine.

#60

I was riding my bike and there was like a courtyard with plants and the path through was like a Y shape, you went in and in the middle could turn left or right to go through and out.

I went in and just before I got to the middle a cat walked out of a Bush and sat in the middle of the left L and stared at me. I stopped my bike as I'd never seen a cat stare so much and act like that.

Cats absolutley hate staring at people (I'm a cat owner) but this cat held my gaze for an age and did not move. I had been going to go left so I changed my mind and went to turn right.

And ANOTHER cat came out of another Bush and sat in the middle of the right path and stared at me. They both stayed put I was looking back and forth between them and I just had a feeling like.

These are not ordinary cats, they looked at me like they were people in a cats body and it freaked me out and gave me chills. I ended up turning around and going back the way I came

When I looked back I could see both of them going back into their bushes at the same time. I ended up going all the way round the block ?

It's such a none story but I've never forgotten it and wonder of they had been trying to warn me of something.

#61

Didn’t happen to me, but my dad;

He was walking our dogs kinda late at night and a homeless crackhead was standing at the end of a dead end street talking to herself in Spanish. (For context reasons we are Puerto Rican so keep that in mind) she noticed my dad walking our dogs and began to say in Spanish “those dogs are so pretty let me touch them, those dogs are so pretty let me touch them” over and over again, he said she followed him for a few minutes and her voice kept getting deeper the more she would say it, like if she got possessed… or was already possessed lol.

Luckily she was on the opposite side of the street and she stopped following him eventually!

We don’t live in the best area, so sometimes you’re going to see some sketchy stuff that makes you feel really uncomfortable, but it’s something to keep in mind and makes you more aware about things.

#62

my childhood was super complicated but growing up, i lived with my dad for a period of years (age 5-10, full time, i think?).

now, my dad isn’t a great dad, in that he’s not really present. his priority has never been his kids - i have two half siblings from his previous marriage - but he’s not a bad person.

while i lived with him, i had a babysitter. we’ll call him mark. he lived at our house (again, complicated childhood thanks to a really complicated dad) and i remember thinking he was the bee’s knees. he taught me to play magic and carried me around on his shoulders and he was all around a great guy. but i also remember him doing things he shouldn’t have done. inappropriate stuff that stands out in my mind, with full detail, that i’ve never forgotten.

part of me wonders if it’s just something i made up so i’ve never talked to anyone about it. but i remember it like it was yesterday, so it feels real? i went to therapy for nearly a decade of my life but this is something i never talked about. i don’t want to make a mountain out of a molehill in case it’s just all in my head, but i’ve always wondered if i really was a victim of SA.

#63

Ok hear me out because this one is a doozie and I never tell anyone this story unless they were there or knew the guy I’m about to tell you about. Around 12 years old I met some friends from a different school and started hanging out with them after school. We smoked cigarettes and did regular 12 year old kid stuff but one day my one good friend tells me that there is this guy that creeps everyone out and the school he goes to tells the kids when they walk home from school they have to cross the street to the other side as he has made some funny remarks to the kids and scared them.

We found out his name was Gus and being the little shits that we were we decided just to go up to the house and start talking to him. So we did. He answered the door and he was a older guy, but tall. Like 6”4 but skinny and old. I’d say about 65-70 years old. He had a Dutch accent and we just started talking about random s**t and sometimes disgusting s**t like sex and having sex with animals and he would laugh and make jokes with us about it. We thought this guy was f*****g hillarious. After our conversation he said he had some gifts for us and gave us each a couple bags of condoms. Again we thought this was f*****g hillarious. Over the summer we would visit Gus all the f*****g time. There were rumours that he was a child molester or a psycho but that honestly didn’t scare us.

He was so frail and dumb that our group of friend could have whipped him good. Gus would remember each and everyone of our birthdays and we tell us to stop by on our birthdays each year and he would give us 20 bucks. He even went as far as to find out some of our addresses and sent us super creepy birthday cards and Christmas cards in the mail all the time. Gus was now a staple in our outings. As we got older we started drinking and smoking weed and stuff and he would pick us up if we were too drunk to drive or even drive us to parties and stuff. All the while still being creepy old Gus talking about gay sex and banging squirrels and the what not.

We found it f*****g hillarious but if I tell anyone this story people look at me like what the f**k dude. You’re f*****g nuts. The cops got involved for a little bit and even some of the neighbours and stuff just worrying about us but we told them that he was actually harmless and he’s just a f*****g weird duck. Now as we got older Gus started to let us in his house, and actually let us party there and stuff. I actually f*****g slept over a couple times with some other friends. If my parents ever found out this was happening we would have been dead.

There was probably a group of 6 or 7 of my friends that Gus would trust in his house but slowly he started letting more people come in as our friend group got bigger. It got to the point where me and one other friend could just walk into Gus house and even take his f*****g car. But only me and my friend. I have a million stories of that era I could tell but would f*****g creep people out but Gus stayed in touch with me until the day he died about 7 years ago. He would send me Christmas cards and even leave weird messages on my answering machine sometimes. My f*****g wife actually got to meet him one time too.

I honestly think Gus was just a lonely old man who was either a closet homosexual or just had a weird sense of humour that matched ours. There is so much more to this story but I’d be writing for hours. I actually miss the f*****g guy. He actually because a good friend after a while as WEIRD as it f*****g sounds. Please note. Gus was never a child molester, those were just rumours and we confirmed that much later than we should have hahah. But we knew.

It’s so hard to explain Gus to someone who hasn’t met Him. He was this massively tal weird guy who wore Hawaiian shirts and weird hats to make us laugh. He would say the most off the wall s**t to make us laugh. We were kids and I think he was just a really lonely old man who needed some sort of human interaction as everyone in the neighborhood despised and even would vanadalize his house.

F**k another story just popped up. I went early one night to meet my friend there and walked into Gus house and my friend wasn’t there so I sat with Gus. He ordered me a goddamn pizza while I waited for my friend and we just hear a huge “bang bang bang” and Gus didn’t even flinch. I said what the f**k was that Gus, and he just said so sad “oh those are those kids egging me again” I actually felt bad. But anyway if you wanna hear more about Gus I have a million stories to tell as he was in my life from 12 years old till my 30’s.

#64

There was a garden next to a footpath that some kids used to ride over to take a short cut. The path was narrow with thick thorn bushes each side, very secluded. One day I lost my balance and crashed into the garden on my bmx (was around 8 years old at the time) by accident. I got up, got back on my bike and went down the footpath. Halfway down a man started coming towards me shouting with his arms stretched out blocking anyway past, behind him his wife came doing the same thing. They wouldn't let me go for 10 or so minutes, for the first 2 minutes they made me repeat my name over and over, then they just stood there at my front and back wheel looking down on me for like ages, I could feel their breath on my face and neck. Suddendly the bloke snapped out of the glare and told me "you better go, now" as he stared at the floor, I rode out of there as fast as I could.

They probably had enough of the local kids using their front garden as a cut through. But they were f*****g weird, later on they put up a 7ft fence all around their property. They moved shortly afterwards, when they left their neighbours told us they never seemed right.

#65

Just remembered another story. My mom had serious mental illness which involved among many other things, serious neglect. Me and my brother when we were "dirty" (hadn't bathed that day and left the house l) had to sleep on a sofa with no cushions (90's so effective sharp edged 6 by 2 planks) with no blanket. All night one of her "boyfriends had climbed up to the ledge and tried to break in, we were terrified and she was sleeping in the room with us pretending none of it was happening. The setee we were sleeping on was directly under the window. F*****g terrifying. So grown a*s man trying to pry old school windows open with tools whilst my mum went between ignoring it and telling us to "get down" I have so many stories like this. I wish I was down to drugs because I have addiction issues myself but sadly its just severe mental illness. My whole child hood I just remember being cold, hungry and uncomfortable (physically) no carpets on old school wooden floorboards, I thought everyone had to deal with inch long splinters and the relative infections.

#66

It's kind of funny looking back on it but was terrifying at the time.

When I was around 11-13, my friends and I would constantly roam around our neighborhood late at night and just f**k around. Right next to the entrance of our neighborhood, there was a cluster of trees that we called the forest. It wasn't really a forest since it probably only stretched a hundred feet or so in each direction but we called it that nonetheless. We were riding our skateboards by the forest and my friend stopped to take a p**s in the bushes right outside of the treeline.

I thought it would be funny to mess with him by throwing his skateboard into the woods since it was pitch black inside of there and super creepy at night. He naturally got pissy at me and made me go get it but I told him it wasn't my board so it wasn't my problem. After bickering for a few minutes, we decided that the three of us would go in together to get it so that we could protect each other from forest demons.

Now, even though this was a small cluster of trees, this place was creepy as absolute f**k in the nighttime. Just something about it threw you off. Hell, even in the daylight it was creepy. We slowly crept in and shined our flashlights around looking for the skateboard. My friend saw it about 15 feet into the woods and made me go get it since I was the one who threw it in. I rushed over to go pick it up and as I was bending over to pick it up, I heard my 2 friends start screaming and yelling. I looked up to see a homeless man pissing on a tree about 10 feet in front of me. He had a really shocked look on his face. I too screamed, grabbed the board and bolted.

My friends had turned and fled with the flashlight before I could turn so I stumbled through the dark and tripped over a bunch of roots and could barely see but I made it out in one piece. We took off and fled back to my friends house all the while yelling about the serial killer in the woods. Looking back at it, that poor homeless guy was probably equally as spooked as we were and just wanted to urinate in peace and us dipshit kids came along and ruined his tranquility.

#67

Two stories from the same place we used to holiday every year, a tiny island, half a mile wide and a mile across, no cars allowed and it used to be inhabited by monks so there were many tales of hauntings.

The first was when we used to stay on the campsite. I had been to the toilets and I was walking back to our tent. I passed through a small group of people sitting in chairs in the middle of the field (nothing unusual here, people would sit out and stargaze and drink without bothering people inside their tents).

As I passed through someone said something to get my attention, I can't remember what was said but I was just chatting with them when suddenly this one man pointed his finger at me. He had a cigarette in his hand and all of a sudden all I could focus on was the lit end of this cigarette. He kept on talking to me but I don't know what he said. All I know is I could not take my eyes away from that glowing orange dot.

I felt very afraid but I could not move. It was like the whole world vanished and it was just me, him and that damn cigarette that I could not stop looking at. I don't know what happened but I'm damn sure that dude hypnotised me in an instant.

I remember hearing a laugh from someone in the group and it was like the spell was broken. I ran back to my tent with my heart pounding as they all laughed at me. Overall it is the weirdest thing that has happened to me. I don't really believe in psychics and hypnotism etc but that guy sure did something to my brain.

The other incident was when we stayed in a cottage overlooking a courtyard which had a church in the corner. It was the last thing I would see from outside when I closed the curtains at night and it used to freak me out. It got to the stage I would crawl under the window to close the curtains without having to look outside at that creepy old church.

A few years later some archaeologists visited the island and did some digging. What did they find under the church steps? The skeleton of a monk, buried upside down.

#68

I was about 8-9 years old at the time (26 M) walking home from school, usually with a few friends who lived down my street but this time I was alone. I was a few streets away from home and there was an middle aged asian man out the front of his house doing his gardening. I could feel him staring at me and we locked eyes and he started small talk in a really broken accent “hello I have seen you walk past here so many times” the rest is not vivid but I remember him asking where I lived, who I lived with and if I wanted to help him do some gardening… I was a nice kid so I was happy to do small talk and answer his questions. I then remember that if I was not home by 3:30pm then I would miss Dragon Ball Z and panicked and started running home… I remember eating while watching DBZ and telling mum about the encounter….and the look on her face.

DBZ is still my favourite anime.

#69

This isn't really a memory but, whenever I'd think of all 4 of my siblings counting all of them in my head I always felt like there was supposed to be a 5th one like I was forgetting someone. My sister year later told me my mom had 2 miscarriage's and 1 abortion. This was told to me before I even let anyone know how I felt because I thought it was just my mind being dumb. Maybe I'm connected with the 3 babies that died.

#70

Grew up in apartments with a huge storm water reservoir behind them. We would often hop the wall and play in there since it was always empty. Along the wall we would usually hop was lined with thick brush so there were few spots to easily hop back over to the apartments. Anyway one day after playing, it started getting dark l and as we are walking toward our spot to hop over and this man crept out about 20 feet in front of us on all 4s wearing some tattered shorts, we froze, he growled and ran at us on all 4s at incredible speed. I was around 9 and the second fastest kid in school and he was almost keeping up. We scattered and found some alternate routes. I remember running and yelling "I'm sorry I'm sorry" out of sheer terror. Never told our parents because they probably wouldn't have believed us, and they would have whooped our asses for playing out there since my brother had accidentally set fire to it once.

#71

Being followed by a weird looking women who was covering her whole face saying random things in a low voice tone

#72

I’m thoroughly convinced that I saved a girl from being kidnapped by a stranger.

There was this dream that stayed in my head for a long time. In it, I was observing, kind of like a fly on the wall so to speak. But instead of a room, this is taking place in a public setting, a Tennessee Titans football game if I remember. This dream would creep its way into my sleep cycle periodically, and the frequency of its appearance led me to believe it was like a reminder or something. So every time I had it, I would jolt myself awake and immediately try to write down every detail that I could remember on a piece of paper.

Main Concourse

Concession stand

Sections 141-142

Titans: 8
Jets: 3

Big fight on field

These are just some of the details that I for sure could remember.

Now here’s the details that I was unsure of:

Young girl, age Seven? Eight? Nine even?

Brown hair or just really dark red?

Titans jersey, number 11? No name on jersey?

Is that a thing of cotton candy?

Oh wait, who’s that guy leaning against the cement pillar?

Big man, not entirely overweight but pretty heavyset?

No jersey for any of the two teams? Regular clothing, somebody not affiliated with the Titans or Jets, so why are you here?

Mid to late 40s? Early 50s?

Really Grey hair for someone at mid-life.

WHY ARE YOU STARING SO INTENTLY AT THAT LITTLE GIRL?!! DO NOT APPROACH HER OLD MAN!

And that’s where I jolt myself awake every time the dream cycled it’s way into my sleep. One thing’s for sure: that man was creepy as f**k. You’d think that every time I had the dream, he’d look different. Nope, exactly the same, every time.

Eventually I forgot about that paper.

This was happening in 2013; I was about 14. It wasn’t until the next year that every detail that I remembered came in hand.

My dad got tickets to a titans game, box seats. Okay sweet, we get a box to ourselves

…the Titans were playing the Jets… oh… wait a minute, Titans and Jets?

I go digging for that piece of paper. I find it and take it with me when we go to the game.

Once we get there and get settled into the suite, I tell my folks I’m going to run down to the concessions, something about “the suite doesn’t have what I’m wanting to eat”. So I leave.

Something about that day never really left my mind, the fact that, out off all the concession stands that I went to, none of them had what I was looking for. I eventually found a concession stand that had what I was wanting, near the sections, get this…

141 and 142.

At this point I’m starting to wonder, was I meant to be at this concession? At this time on this day? I thought “you know it wouldn’t hurt to take a quick look around, it’s not like anything is going to happen right?”

So I start just looking around, watching the crowds mill about, trying to get to their seats and all. And that’s when I see a little girl. Titans jersey, number 11, no name. Definitely dark red hair, almost auburn, not the typical bright red. Okay, she’s holding cotton candy.

I thought to myself “alright, this is the real deal. This is happening.” Immediately, I start looking for mister creepy dude.

Sure enough, there he is off to the side, just a little out of sight. Gotcha you son of a b***h.

So I start to think of ways to approach her without looking like a creep myself. By some stroke of luck there was an MNPD officer just standing a few feet away.

So I approach him real quick, I ask him to take a look, acknowledge that there’s a little girl by herself, possibly waiting for her parents. I informed him that a very unsavory individual was watching her as well, that he looks like he shouldn’t be there. Asked the officer if he could acknowledge that man’s presence as well, he did. I told the officer that I was going to approach the little girl and asked him to keep watch.

I approached her, asked for her name, and assured her I meant no ill-intent. I said “do you see the police officer over my shoulder?” She nodded yes, I said “let’s go talk to him real quick.” I glance up quickly, just quick enough so the girl wouldn’t notice, and I could see mister creepy giving me a glare. I did my best to ignore it.

We walk back to the officer and he’s talking into his radio, “we have a potential kidnapping suspect down on the concourse level, a young man down here got the intended target away from the suspect. Need backup down here ASAP. White male, mid to late 40s, possibly early 50s. White hair, plainclothes, suspect is not wearing a jersey of any kind. Be advised, suspect has disappeared into the crowd, all units be on the lookout.”

After waiting a few minutes with the little girl, here comes her dad asking what happened. We told him and then he called his wife on the phone. The dad and his daughter immediately left the stadium after that.

After they left, the officer asked me “what made you think that little girl was in danger?” I said “just a feeling officer. Just a feeling.”

After that I returned to my family’s box suite, just to watch the Titans get beat 11 to 16.

I never had that dream again after that day.

TLDR, a dream I had ended up saving a little girl from being kidnapped.

#73

I almost got kidnapped once. some stranger was following me on the way home, he proceeded to ride the same train as me, but i ran away and went out of the train at the wrong plattform. it was still worth it.

#74

(We are gonna name the friend nick.)

I was about 5 or 6. And I was in my room dead asleep and I heard something being pushed off my tv stand and I sat up and saw my brother's friend which was my friend. But he looked f****d up. Not drunk. Well a little. But his left side of his head was bashed in and his face was a bloody cut up mess. His clothes were ripped and dirty with dirt and blood and his right arm looked broken because it was bent at his elbow and his forearm. I said "Nick? It's bed time I need to sleep!" (He was always a trickster so I thought he was planting a prank.) But he managed a smile. I vividly remember his words and his voice sounded like he was near sobbing "You aren't going to see me anymore. Tell your family I said hi, please?" And I nodded and he just stared at me for a minute. "Go back to bed. Goodnight *my name*" And I said goodnight and rolled over and just assumed he left. The next morning my dad sat me on the kitchen counter and told me Nick had died in a car crash.

The car crash was not his fault though if you were wondering. Him and his two "friends" were at a party with other people up in the mountains at a camp site. They had a truck where the back seats were turned to face eachother. They put blacked out him in the back and started to drive down the road which had a cliff off to one side. They drove the truck off and they ditched. Truck rolled and crushed him. They dragged his body out a good 50 yards into the woods and left him there.

#75

When I was kid riding my bike around my neighborhood, an 18 wheeler (very rare for these to be down our back neighborhood roads) started driving slowly beside me inching closer and closer to me until I felt the need to fall off sideways because I thought I'd get hit. He drove off and I started to head home. He ends up beside me again and does the same thing. I remember coming home and being so terrified and too embarassed to tell my parents. (Assuming they'd brush it off as a lie, wtf could they even do anyway??)

#76

i was like 7,and to this day i dont know if this was a real person or not,but my mom was/is a heavy drug user and was at this time too and constantly had people over or was taking me to other peoples houses/apartments that i didnt know.

i was asleep once and it was really late and i was on the couch,i think my mom was either asleep or gone maybe because i didnt hear her walking/talking etc when i woke up to this,but i woke up to a dude standing above me and just looking at me for like 5 minutes.
i pretended to be asleep in case it was an actual person and if id get in trouble or something by being awake,but was peeking and they didn’t go away and just stood there,so i just opened my eyes and they never moved until i closed my eyes again and tried to “hide” myself with blankets because i was freaked tf out, and when i looked they were gone again.

it was dark so it was more of a silhouette but i really think it was a guy standing above me because i had that feeling or sense you get when someone is close to you,and there was also a distinct smell that was only there when they were standing there so that also makes me believe they were an actual person+ it kinda looked like they were wearing a jacket lol...but like,who and why???why are you staring at someone sleeping for 5+ minutes straight in the dark???

#77

I had this picture of my parents and me, before my sisters were born, and I used to sleep on a bunk bed, coincidentally opposite the picture. Every time I would try to sleep, I would constantly get creeped out by the eyes of the picture, not sure why, but I always had the feeling the eyes were moving.

#78

Slipping on the ice on my way to school and being helped up by a bearded bloke who introduced himself as “Peter” and tried to strike up a conversation with me.

This was around the time of the Yorkshire Ripper murders.