People are obsessed with hauntings and ghost stories.
Unexplainable phenomena remain a fascination for even for the timid. It's like driving by the scene of a traffic accident. As horrific as they are, people can't help but slow down and look.
This is why ghost hunting shows remain popular. Audiences in general like being freaked out.
But the real horrors that keep me up at night are the ones perpetrated by the living.
Curious to hear about hair-raising anecdotes, Redditor Napalm_Nancy_Yeet asked strangers online:
"What true, non-paranormal story gives you chills?"
No ghosts or murderers here, but these stories are creepy, nonetheless.
Incognito Photo-Bomber
"Seeing that photo of the guy hiding in the trees. The kid took a selfie on a mountain trail and sent the pic to his family then went missing. After closer inspection they noticed there was a guy crouching down hiding in the trees behind where the kid was.... On this trail that no one was supposed to be on..."
Undiscovered Body
"A guy was sleeping on top of fridges at a grocery store trying to hide from work. He fell between the wall and one, and died there. Nobody knew where he was until his rotting body stunk up the place."
These tragic stories are nightmare-inducing.
The Fight For Survival
"Alive. Bunch of kids survived a plane crash but couldn't get out of the mountains. Wound up cannibalizing each other. A few were eventually rescued, their stories are harrowing."
The Drowning Girl
"The story of Omayra Sanchez. Don't look it up if you are sensitive. She was a kid that got a feet trapped under debris during a flood and was imposible to rescue. They could interview her while was slowly dying of infection and hypothermia."
What criminals are capable of are far more haunting than any spooky specter.
Stalker
"The story of Daniel LaPlante. There's quite a bit of information so I'll try to sum up the creepiest bits."
"Daniel met a girl named Annie and took her on a date or two. They talk for a while but eventually, Annie found him to be a bit creepy and dumps him. He continues to stop by the house uninvited but quite sneaky about it. He'd tap on windows and stuff, get Annie and her sister riled up and scared. They'd try to convince their dad someone was out there but he was often working and didn't hear or see anything."
"So one night, the two sisters went to the basement to do a seance, trying to contact their mom who had died somewhat recently I believe. They hear tapping on the walls and run up stairs. All is well for a while, but the tapping and knocking continues. It comes from all over the house and they can't figure out why."
One night, dad finally heard the knocking and investigated. He opened a closet door to find Daniel standing there with a knife or machete. That's scary enough but Daniel was also wearing his late wife's wedding gown (I think make-up too but not sure). Dad fought him off and he was finally arrested. If that isn't weird enough, they found out he had been moving around, even spending the night INSIDE the walls of their house. That's how he'd watch them and it explains the constant knocking from all over.
Prior to this incident, he had assaulted and murdered a pregnant woman and drowned her two children.
I left out a fair bit of details and maybe the timeline is off but I'm telling this from memory.
The Bedroom Watcher
"A few years ago in Saratoga NY there was a guy who would break into people's houses just to watch them sleep. Never took anything, just watched people sleep. They caught him, but it apparently really messed with the minds of the victims. Saratoga Sleeper Creeper."
Laundry Man
"When I turned 18, I got my first apartment. I started using the laundry down the street. I noticed the owner would show up within 10 minutes of my arrival. Didnt matter what day or time. Always trying to chat me up, drive me home etc. Creeper dude. One day, a man I didnt even know was there and yelled at him for staring at my clothing in the dryer while touching his hand to the door. He was staring at my panties. It was so uncomfortable, I began to take my laundry back to my parents."
"About 10 years later, scrolling FB, i see an age progression for a teen girl who disappeared from that laundry, a week before I began going there. I never forgot how scary he was, and would have remembered any missing child posters or even newspaper articles because I was a daily reader then. Turns out, this guy is the only suspect, also lived across the street from me so it explains why he always arrived when I showed up. I had to walk past his place with my clothes."
"She's never been found."
The Paroled Rapist
"A paroled rapist and his wife abducted an 11 year old girl and assaulted her on a weekly basis, even forcing her to give birth to two children. All throughout this time he was being monitored by parole officers and psychiatrists who praised him for his supposed rehabilitation and even tried to have him taken off parole several times, unaware that he was holding three people captive under their noses."
"This went on for eighteen years until he was finally caught when he brought his daughters-by-rape to a campus and the police officers reported it to his parole officer."
The Netflix docuseries, Don't F**k With Cats, seriously kept me up at night.
Witnessing a twisted psychopath's gruesome torturing of animals was disturbing enough, but it turns out his social media stunts were only the beginning.
The three-part series, while being a well-produced show, wound up being the creepiest thing I have ever seen.
Every now and then, a friend of ours might say something, or we might overhear a complete stranger say something that makes us stop in our tracks.
More often than not, what we can't believe we just heard is something so ridiculous, we can't help but put the person who said it in their place.
Other times, however, what we just heard might have stunned us silent because of how shockingly clever it was.
Resulting in our not wanting to scold or yell at someone, but rather give them a handshake.
Redditor SubmergingOriginal was curious to hear the sharpest and wittiest things they've ever heard, from friends and strangers alike, leading them to ask:
"Enough with the dumbest; what is the wittiest thing you've ever heard someone say?"
Don't Give Me So Much Credit...
'I was on a team at work that was on a project working insane overtime."
"One night after an 80-90 hour week, we were all sitting around the table trying to finish up so we could go home."
"Around 11, my buddy's wife called, dubious about the hours he'd been keeping."
"We heard her through the line - 'are you cheating on me?'"
"Exasperated, he looked at our boss, then replied 'honey, if I was cheating on you, I would have been home by now'."- lionbatcher
Eternal Optimism...
"Asked a blind guy if he'd been blind his whole life."
"He said 'Not yet'."- Feeling_Mode_6465
Free time Isn't The Only Thing He Has On His Hands...
"My brother got a vasectomy and when the doctor was releasing him and giving him instructions (with the nurse listening in), one of the orders was to 'come back and have a follow-up appointment after you’ve ejaculated 30 times'.”
"Without missing a beat my brother asked 'what time do you open tomorrow?'”
"The nurse couldn’t keep it together after hearing that."- UtahUtopia
Awkward Season 8 GIF by The Office
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Double Whammy!
"My pal uses the phrase 'he doesn’t look strong enough to carry information' and it cracks me up every time."
"Calling someone stupid and weak in one fell swoop."- JennyW93
Can't Hide Your DNA...
'Whenever I jokingly insult my mum, she says 'that must be where you get it from'."
"She cracked the code."
"I can never offend her without offending myself."- JennyW93
Self-Sufficient!
"My brother was a line cook at a New Orleans restaurant."
"My mom was in town, staying at a fancy hotel, and he stopped by after work, still wearing his kitchen whites."
"He was reading a newspaper in the lobby waiting for her to come down when the shocked lobby manager sputtered at him, 'MAY I HELP YOU!?!?'
"He answered, 'thanks, but I know how to read',” and went back to his paper."- jobrody
Morph Current Affairs GIF by Aardman Animations
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A Miracle!
"My brother-in-law’s comment."
"The entire family went out for my mother’s 80th birthday and after the meal we all went to a local park, largely occupied by the elderly, to rest."
"My mother needed crutches at this point, and they were resting against her bench."
"My 10-year-old niece, who looked like every starving waif image from Dickens, grabbed the crutches and started hobbling round the park."
"All the OAPs were following her progress with looks of pity until my brother ran up behind her, and kicked away the crutches."
"There was an audible gasp from round the park and then my niece picked the crutches back up and started chasing my brother, clearly intending to hit him."
"In the confused silence my brother-in-law’s voice rang out 'Praise be! She can walk again!'"
"We still think this was the highlight of the birthday celebrations."- DdraigGwyn
Still Legal, Whichever Way You Cut It...
"I picked up my pleasantly tipsy boyfriend from a nightclub."
"We were stopped by the Police for a random breath test."
"They asked me my age, and I said, 33."
"My bf blurted out '33? You told me you were 22'."
"Police just laughed and let me go."- Aggravating-Corgi379
Music Video Police GIF by Andrew W. K.
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A Bit Too On The Nose?
"Business law class in college years ago, talking about the issues that black Americans had before the Civil Rights."
"Amendment, trying to travel through the south with the discrimination so rampant, trying to find restaurants to serve them and decent lodgings."
"My instructor was posing a hypothetical: 'So you pull up out front of this place, you're exhausted from driving for hours, and you see the sign out front says 'Ku Klux Klan Motel'."
"'What would you expect to find there?'"
"Without missing a beat, from the back of the room came this gem: "'Extra sheets in every room?'"- NedsAtomicDB
Not Yet, Anyway...
"I was working with my friend and his dad."
"My friend (26) heard an ice cream truck near where we were working."
"He asked his dad if he could have a couple dollars."
"His dad asked, 'what for?'"
"My friend told his dad that there was an ice cream truck in the neighborhood, and that they were playing music."
"My friends dad told him "'They don't charge anything to listen to the music'."- tatersalad1234567890
Words Escape You In The Literal "Heat" Of The Moment...
"A friend of mine is a teacher and her husband is known for his wit."
"She told this story to him:"
"One day at school a kid took the hall pass and returned reeking like smoke."
"She asked the kid if he’d been smoking and he denied it over and over."
"She was about to send him to the office when she noticed smoke coming from somewhere."
"She told the kid and he realized that he didn’t put his cig out completely and it was burning in his pants pocket."
"The kid noticed and frantically tried to put it out and someone finally poured water on it."
"Her husband sat listening to this with a weird look on his face."
"She asked him what was wrong."
“'What’s wrong???'"
"'This was probably the only chance you’ll have in your life to say literally, ‘liar,liar, pants on fire’ and you missed your chance'."- Luder714
On Fire No GIF by PEEKASSO
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Amazing What You Might Say A Few Drinks In...
"When I went to a renaissance faire once, I went to a beer tent and ordered a Newcastle Brown Ale (seemed the most fitting for the surroundings)."
"The beer wench, without skipping a beat, said, 'Everyone wants a Newcastle - no one wants to remodel!'"- jayhof52
Read The Room People!
"My dad wiped out when skiing down a mountain and lost a ski."
"After a few minutes of hunting for it, he gives up, slings the one remaining ski over a shoulder and starts walking down the mountain in his ski boots."
"About half-way down, another skier stops and goes 'Gee! Did you lose a ski?'"
"My dad instantly replied 'No, I was out for a walk and found one!'"- PeterJoAl
There's a reason your mother always told you to "use your words".
As clever remarks can have a much more lasting effect on people than a push or shove.