
Growing up, my parents used to force me to hang out with a girl. They felt bad for her because her life was pretty rough, and she was legitimately a caring and funny girl. So far, so good. Then the sleepovers started and holy crap did that change everything. She lived in a house that constantly smelled like feet, sweat and pee. Her mom didn't believe in seasoning food because it "hid the natural flavor." She had a brother who did a lot of staring and groaning, a dad who chewed his toenails, a serious bug problem, and she herself always stunk like vinegar because she couldn't smell her own funk and showers were "too boring" to bother with.
I was forced into sleepovers at least once every few months for about six years. It's a shame, because I really liked the girl but I hated her place so much that it ruined our friendship completely. I kept trying to explain to my parents that the whole thing creeped me out, but they weren't having it. They felt bad for the girl so I had to be the one to pay for it. One Reddit user asked:
What caused you to think "I'm never visiting again" after being in someone's home?
I'm going to go ahead and warn you now - there are many many bugs and filth stories ahead. People are ... incredible. And I don't mean that in a good way. Brace yourselves, we're going in!
Drunk Dad And The Ghost
I had a new friend in middle school and I went over her house for a sleepover. It was fun at first because we were just playing outside. Then she shows me her creepy, unfinished basement with a rabbit hutch and some bunnies. She tells me how sad she was when one of her bunnies died recently and how her older brother made her laugh by making it's corpse dance.
Her dad is drinking in the kitchen, big beer gut. Something about him makes me feel uneasy. She shows me a room with a big fish hanging on the wall and flies around it's eyes. She says we can either sleep in here on the couches or in her bedroom. Then she tells me that her mom and brother sleep in her room with her every night and they lock the door. I ask why, she says ghosts. I'm thinking, what about your dad? Don't ask it aloud because I figure it's really him they're hiding from. Then I fake a stomach ache and had her mom take me home.
Scorpions
A failed scorpion farm.
Made the horrendous mistake of spending the night at my ex's parents' house. I woke up to the feeling of something crawling on me. I soon realized there were three somethings. I flipped on the light and discovered...scorpions. There are NO scorpions native to our area.
I freak out, swat them off and then run to the bathroom to strip and check for more and when I turn on the light, several scorpions on the wall scattered like roaches. I wake up the ex because seriously, wtf?
Apparently when he was younger he thought ant farms were boring and decided to order scorpions on the internet and make a scorpion farm instead. The survivors of his arachnid Mad Max setup escaped into the house where a few turned into an insane amount. The very wealthy parents chose to live with the scorpions rather than call an exterminator.
Never went back.
No Hospitality
A work friend invited me over to his house to watch a hockey game so I said sure why not. I bought a 6 pick of beers and he said sweet. He just put them in his fridge. He proceeded to pour himself scotch but never asking me I wanted to have a drink. Then he pulled out some leftovers and made himself a dish and again, he never asked me if I was hungry. Then i just asked for a beer (that I had bought) and he said "i guess, but I was going to save them for another time". I left after the game and its been really awkward at work.
- gb1993
Petrified Poop Pile
Finally went to a girls house that I had been talking to for a little while. We were messing around on the couch, things were advancing, and she asked to move to the bed. We get in the room and I noticed a foul smell. I started looking around and saw a pile of dog sh!t on the floor, no big deal, we had been out for a few hours and accidents happen. I told her about it and she said "oh no!" Like she was surprised and went to the bathroom to get things to clean it up. While she was in the bathroom I spotted 3 separate piles of shit and one of them almost petrified and had to have been there for a few days. I told her I didn't feel well and was going to go home. I never saw her again.
The Bath Tub
They had accumulated so many dirty dishes, they just put them into the bath tub.
- Bmc00
Getting To Know You
Met my biological father and half siblings when I was 12. Spent a night at his house to "get to know my family".
Proceeded the spend that entire night feeling disgusting, watching roaches crawl across the TV, trailing from the ceiling down the wall into the trash can. Crawling all over the piles of actual garbage laying on the bedroom floors.
I did not use the bathroom that night. It was a very long night.
The Hostage Situation
I was the new kid in the 6th grade and quickly made friends with this one girl. I think she kind of jumped at the chance to be friends with the one person who knew literally nothing about her. She was really nice to me, but also kind of really strange... like she'd growl at people and she'd draw wolves on every single surface from the classroom to her bedroom, but nonetheless we were both in an advance art program so we saw each other more than I saw other people in my grade and I wasn't in a position to reject friendship.
Went to her house once- never went back. When we entered the home it smelled HEAVILY of dog urine... but there wasn't a dog. When I asked if she had a dog her response was "no, not since the accident" then there was an uncomfortable silence and she just started laughing uncontrollably. RED FLAG.
I stayed because my mother wasn't picking me up until a bit later and I didn't exactly know how to walk home. When my mother did come to pick me up and I was about to exit the house, the girl's mom literally ran after me and grabbed me and brought me back upstairs. She shook my shoulders screaming I couldn't leave right now. I started freaking out not knowing what was happening. The girl's mom is frantically running around to all the windows and screaming at someone outside in a language I don't understand. My mom calls the house and is also freaking out, the girls mom wouldn't let her talk to me and she also just watched me get dragged back by this woman. So she calls the police.
It escalates and turns into like a mini hostage kind of situation. There was a guy outside that the girl's mom used to date and he wanted something from her and if I left he'd run into the house when the door opened, so I couldn't leave. Cops come, the girls mom gives me a plastic shopping bag duct taped everywhere and tells me under no circumstances am I allowed to look inside of it and that I had to hand it to the man outside. I didn't want to do that but it seems like it's the only way I'm getting out of there. It was rounded out by the contents and I remember it bearing the weight of a bowling ball. I actually pee'd on myself I was so scared. I didn't know what else to do so I took the bag and started to leave the house. When I made it to the exit I straight up YEETED the bag and ran to my mother. I have no clue where the guy was, I think at that point he was already apprehended by the police.
Whole time this was happening, the girl who I was there to hang out with was sitting on the table in her kitchen, eating cereal LIKE A DOG, not at all phased by the series of events happening in front her.
We had to go to the police station that night and because it was so late when I got home, I didn't go to school the next day. That day I missed school, the girl told everyone I was insane, and that when we hung out I went crazy and I pee'd myself for no absolutely reason.
We don't talk anymore.
Couch Crabs
Their hermit crabs lived in the couch for whatever reason. Yeah, in the couch. Guess their glass cage thing broke on it and she figured it was easier to let them live there. She poured sand under the cushions. It was f*cking weird.
- NanoBuc
Almost Rich
I had an almost rich friend. Almost meaning that his parents were well to do (they just up and gave him a house) and his grandma was in the oil business (would leave 6 figure dividend checks uncashed on her tables because who cares?).
So he moves into his detached garage, halfway turns it into an apartment, and rents out the house to another friend. I didn't go over there often, but I knew that he hadn't sprung for improvements to the apartment like a toilet or running water. Understandable. I guessed he would just go in the house to use the bathroom.
I visited one day. His 'apartment' was trashed. Used pizza boxes were everywhere, dirty dishes, dirty clothes... etc. All of that I could understand; this was his house, his living space. Who was I to judge?
Then I noticed two things: a definite dog sh*t smell and his penchant for Gatorade. The dog sh*t was obviously from the other friend's dog, except that it'd tracked it into the apartment and my friend had tracked it all around, smooshing it into the sh*tty carpet. I was about to comment on him storing Gatorade all along the shelf near his computer and how keeping it cold would be better... until I realized that these were already used. The bottles were full of what I was sure wasn't Gatorade.
But he was almost rich, so he was better than me, according to him.
- junket89
We Never Got Over It
It actually caused a rift in our friendship that I don't think we ever got over.
He was in town only for a few days, I told him if I came over, since we were drinking I needed to spend the night and that my wife would be there, because we lived an hour away.
So he's home from college, and we go to his childhood home, his mom's house. She's out with friends.
I walk in with an overnight bag for me and my wife. I ask where to put it and he shows me where we'll be sleeping. This is a mid 80s era trailer. Looks clean though. Until he opens the door to this room. His mom's room. I dare'd not turn the light on. There are unclean sheets on the bed. There are 5 dogs in there, mostly laying on the bed, which I now notice is covered in dog hair.
On the floor, which is bare plywood as the carpet looked to have been haphazardly torn out, there are 10 - 15 piles of sh!t and piss soaking into the wood everywhere.
My friend looks past all of this and tells me I can put my bag on a chair in the room. I said "OK....." and my wife was just glaring at me. I looked back at her like "I got this."
It looked as though he had cleaned the whole house pretty well, then shoved the dogs into his mom's room (which seemed frequent given the state of it).
So I went out on the back porch with my wife and the first thing out of her mouth was "we are not f*cking sleeping here, your friend is f*cking disgusting and I'm not staying in that room."
I said "babe. you don't have to sell me on it. I just don't know how we're gonna get out of it, I basically requested a room."
She said "i'll stay sober, I can drive, you gotta get us out of here." I said "Ok, can we just hang out a while longer?" She agreed that was fine. A couple hours later and her body language basically said she was donezo. I asked where the bathroom was. I went in there and shat, as I tried to think of what to do to get out, then it occurred to me, I was doing it. I shat, wiped, then read everything in the bathroom, and flushed probably 6 times. I came out of the bathroom gripping my stomach and covered in flop sweat (splashed on water from the sink.) Proclaimed we had had sushi for dinner and it must have been bad. Went and got my bag and went home.
I'm not the best actor. I'm pretty sure my friend knew what was up. We were never the same after that. IDK. Our friendship definitely wasn't worth staying a night in that literal sh!thole.
Everyone has their travel bucket list.
The list of places they absolutely must visit before they die.
There are those, however, who also have a rather different list of destinations.
The places that have no intention to visit.
Be it for safety concerns, language barriers, or simply that there's nothing at these places that calls to them, there are places some wouldn’t dream of spending the time and money to visit.
Redditor TrooperJohn was curious to hear which places were at the very bottom of the list of travel destinations for his fellow Redditors, leading them to ask:
"What is a popular tourist destination you have no interest in visiting?"
Oasis in the desert? No thank you.
"Dubai."
"Why and whats special about it?"
"Its a modern city in a desert."- Maximum_Calendar_791.
"Dubai."
"A fake city with fake people, no human rights, where the world's tallest buildings hide corruption and slavery in their shadows."
"It's like someone decided to take every problem of mankind and concentrate it in one spot."- PayNoNoticeOfMe.
"Dubai one i think it is ugly two I would die in two minutes of me being there I can't stand anything above 40 c°."- BookWormPerson.
One of the seven wonders is one too many for me.
"The pyramids. "
"Too many horror stories of Egypt."- Aemiom.
Landlocked.
"Not really a destination, but taking a cruise."- Shortbus_Playboy.
Mountains aren't really my thing.
"Everest."
"Just why."
"You use a bunch of money to get in there them come down."
"And trash your whole way there. It's literally a corner in the Earth insufferable for humans and we still made a way to go there to trash it."- ACLullaby.
It's in my own backyard... but still not interested.
"I have lived about 15km away from the Burj Khalifa ever since it was made."
"I could not care any less besides the occasional pointing out the 'shiny tall building' to my nieces.- legolosss.
The pictures are enough for me.
"Mount Rushmore."
"Friends who've made the journey to Mount Rushmore mostly say it was no big deal and not worth the effort or expense to travel there."- Back2Bach.
Hustle and Bustle? No thanks.
"Anything busy.'
"Whether it's cities, structures, I don't care."
"I'd rather go to a boring empty quiet place than a place full of people."- TheSmeep.
They're watching us.
"That creepy a** place in Japan with all the realistic dolls."
"No thank you."
Some dream of paying a visit to these places.
Others hope they never have to set foot there, and will choose to leave it to the other millions of tourists.
To each, their own.
Want to "know" more?
Sign up for the Knowable newsletter here.
Never miss another big, odd, funny, or heartbreaking moment again.
When it comes to electing a leader, the choice is an easy one if a potential candidate shares the same values as yours.
And while a candidate is fit to lead remains to be seen, we rely on our instinct to choose someone with whom we can relate.
But sometimes, our options are limited and we inevitably go with someone who is the lesser of two evils.
Curious to hear from strangers online about a hypothetical, Redditor Cashmeresquid2309 asked:
"Americans of Reddit, would you vote for an openly Atheist presidential candidate? Why or why not?"

Redditors were quick to point out the answer was a no-brainer.
We Already Know The Answer
"Asking Reddit if they'd vote for an atheist..."
"I feel like the answer would be obvious."
– sarahmagoo
Sci-Fi Analogy
"Americans of Reddit, would you vote for a Star Wars fan who heckin loves doggos?"
– WitnessChemical
For The Atheists In The Crowd
"Atheists of atheistville, would you vote for an open atheist?"
– nixcamic
Others weighed in with a range of opinions.
About 45
"What's funny is how many of them would probably say no, even though they voted for Trump and would do so again. Say whatever else you want about him, but I seriously can't understand how anyone could genuinely believe Trump is a Christian. He's so obviously faking it and is undoubtedly the most atheistic president we've ever had or are likely to have for a long time."
"This is a guy who's never even so much as read the Bible or attended church, who told a conservative radio host his favorite Bible verse was 'an eye for an eye', who told evangelical interviewers that he's never asked God for forgiveness because he's never done anything wrong, and who routinely commits all 7 deadly sins (pride, greed, wrath, envy, lust, gluttony and sloth) without remorse."
– empfindsamkeit
From A Different Perspective
"Not an american but interestingly according to this survey on 1006 people from 2007, being atheist was the worst thing you could be as a candidate (of the things asked) with only 45 % of people saying they'd vote for one."
– ilovecatfish
An atheist candidate isn't necessarily a big strike.
Double Negative
"I wouldn’t not vote for someone just because they were atheist."
– HabitualEnthusiast
Credibility First
"This is it. If they’re running on platforms I support with a history to back up those campaign promises, I don’t care if they belong to the church of the flying spaghetti monster. They could literally be a member of the satanic temple and I, an actual practicing Christian, would give less shi*s than a constipated sloth."
"Edit: yes, I realize the Satanic Temple does not actually worship satan. I used it for that purpose. The Church of Satan has some…problematic views and I probably would not vote for someone who literally holds a platform of eugenics."
– Phoenix_of_Asclepius
Some view the role of religion in politics as important.
It Depends
"Religion can be relevant: I would have strong reservations about voting for a Scientologist, even if I agreed with the policies they proposed. I would have strong reservations voting for a member of an apocalyptic cult or, possibly worse, a follower of the (highly heretical) 'prosperity gospel,' which unfortunately includes more and more so-called 'evangelicals' — I didn't vote for George W. Bush, but it's not because he was an evangelical."
"It depends on the role: I'd probably be more flexible with a legislator than an executive (mayor, governor, president), as their character is IMO more important than for a legislator and their policy stances somewhat less important relative to a legislator."
"Satanic temple — well, that's just an organized group of atheists and humanists with an intentionally inflammatory choice of name. They're generally fine people."
– alyssasaccount
A Bad Rap
"The Satanic Temple is an excellent organization that every decent person should be able to respect. A Church of Satan member, not so much."
"There's a huge difference between them!"
– StarsEatArtBooks
And Redditor boganvegan said it best.
"Better an open atheist than a fake Christian."
It all boils down to trustworthiness. Without full transparency, how could anyone put their faith in a candidate who spews nothing but lies?
Want to "know" more?
Sign up for the Knowable newsletter here.
Never miss another big, odd, funny or heartbreaking moment again.
Being home alone isn't always the most tranquil thing.
No one is there to help or protect you.
And things that go "bump" in the night... sometimes they do more than bump.
Redditor ag9910 wanted to hear about the times home felt like an unsafe place to be. They asked:
"What is the scariest, strangest, most unexplainable thing that has happened to you while home alone?"
I'm always freaked out when I'm home alone. Lights on. Yeah, my electric bill is high.
Dorothy?
"I dreamed the front door blew open at the exact time the house alarm went off... I hopped up and sure enough, the front door was open. No intruder."
fatowl
I See You
"Not home alone but only one in right side of the house. Went to my mom's bathroom to wash my hands and saw a pair of feet behind the half open door. Laughed and said 'very funny Ma, I see you.' then finished up and left. Bumped into my mother in the kitchen unpacking, nobody else was in the house. I'm glad whatever was behind the door didn't peek out."
SatanWithFur
“It’s Doug!”
"One night I had forgotten to lock my apartment door and woke up in the middle of the night. My bedroom door was about 2 feet from my front door, as you walked into the apartment. First a big dog ran by, then a person. Holy crap I was so scared and I screeched 'Who is it?!?!!'"
"A man said 'It’s Doug!' As I was thinking to myself, who the f**k is Doug, he said 'oh, crap.' He turned around to go back out the front door saying 'Sorry.' I asked 'Didn’t you have a dog with you?' He said 'Oh, yeah. Hey, c’mon!.' He left, his dog ran out after him and I locked my front door."
"Edit: glad you all thought this was funny, because I did too, once my heart quit trying to beat right out of my chest! The next day the girls at work thought I was crazy for not being upset, but eh, done is done. Peace!"
scarletohairy
Confused...
"My sister and I were home alone and we heard someone big running up the stairs. The stairs make lots of noise with slight pressure so when there’s someone big on them you can tell. I went out of my room to check but saw no one anywhere and my sister also came out of her room and she asked if that was me I said no and we both looked around to see if there was anyone but found no one in the whole house. We were confused and called our parents and just waited until they got back and that was that."
JtSudbury04
I See You
"I very clearly saw a guy walk into my room. But when I went after him there was nobody there. I checked in the closet, under my bed, everywhere one could hide in my room."
HighlyOffensive10
This is why home video surveillance is key.
"NO"
"My parents were on a road trip, just left, and I sat down at my desk. I thought 'Weekend alone by myself' and a voice yelled into my right ear 'NO' so loud it hurt."
Th4ab
Wild
"I managed to lock myself out of my house on my birthday during a tornado while trying to bring my cats to the basement for safety. I later found out that the tornado was approximately a couple miles or less from me at that exact time. The sky was green and it got weirdly calm and then I could hear what sounded like a train coming before I found an unlocked window to climb through. Wild times."
SilverGnarwhal
Saturday morning in the 80s...
"I wasn't home alone but I was awake by myself one Saturday morning in the 80s when I was around 7 or so. I believe my mom was the only one home because my dad went to the lake to go fishing that weekend, and I'm not sure where my older brothers were, maybe they went with him, idk."
"Anyways, my mom's sleeping in, and I'm in the living room by myself, watching Saturday morning cartoons and making a fort out of sheets and cushions. Something made me turn around and I saw my dad in his pajamas standing in the hallway entrance with his hands on his hips, looking the mess I was making and shaking his head."
"He then turned around and walked into my room, which was just off the hallway entrance. Dude. I didn't even look, I just booked it to my parents room and woke my mom up. I don't remember what happened after that, this was around 35 years ago. And yes, my dad was fine, nothing had happened to him."
smriversong
Get the Bat...
"I was at home by myself on a call with some friends when all of a sudden my dog begins to bark like crazy, which was odd since it was the middle of the night and he's usually sleep. I go downstairs to check on him and find him barking at our hall closet, terrified I grabbed my bat that I keep in my room just in case and open the door. There was nothing out of usual at first at then I look down and notice a familiar looking object at the bottom of the closet."
"It was my mom's necklace she had lost when I was 9, (i'm 15 now just to put in perspective how long it's been). I showed it to my mom at breakfast and she was just as shocked as I was. I still have no clue how it got there or how my dog knew it was in there, definitely one of the oddest occurrences of my life."
SomeRandomIdiot14
Meow
"Many years ago, I was 14 or so, my first night alone in the house when my parents were out. Lying on the living room floor reading, my cat sleeping next to me."
"Suddenly, cat wakes up, stares intently into the dark corner of the room behind me, hair on end, growls and then bolts out of the room and upstairs. I look behind me and see nothing, but follow cat upstairs and hide under the covers. Freaked me out."
LairdofWingHaven
Thank God for alarms. I hate being home alone.
Want to "know" more?
Sign up for the Knowable newsletter here.
Never miss another big, odd, funny or heartbreaking moment again.
The human body is still such a mystery.
How much do we really know?
Not a lot apparently. We're learning more all the time.
And most of it is gross.
Redditor BathNo7713 wanted to discuss the ick factor of anatomy. So they asked:
"What is the most disturbing fact about the human body?"
The body freaks me out. But it's all I've got. So teach me some things.
Minutes...
"The fastest killing virus takes around 4 days to kill you. That would be Ebola. Your immune system can kill you in 15 minutes."
will477
'locked-in'
"If your brainstem (the part of the brain that mediates most motor control for all of the body) is damaged, you can get 'locked-in' syndrome. That means you're fully conscious and aware of your surroundings but unable to move or speak. The only muscles that remain unaffected in most people are the muscles that move they eyes and the eyelids."
"You're essentially trapped within your own body with your only way of communication being blinking or moving your eyes It can be caused by toxins, blockage of the basilar artery which is the main artery of the brainstem, or other brainstem damage."
4oodler
Explosions
"Some people suffer from Exploding Head Syndrome, which causes them to hear a loud bang when they wake up."
ToraMix19
"When I was younger I believe I experienced this a few times. Sounds I heard were: about a million people talking and laughing all at once, a train that irl would've been about a foot away from me based on the volume of the sound, and a door slamming loudly."
aliaisacreature
Pain
"Not sure if this is by design, but I totaled my car once, almost completely uninjured somehow. Then I looked down to my right hand which I remember jabbing into my dashboard at 55mph. Luckily (unluckily?) only my pinky took the blow. But instead of a floppy-udder full of bone-sand, my pinky was 0.5 inches long."
"Broke no bones, but instead perfectly stacked my phalanges, or finger bones, INTO my hand. This is fixed by a muscular Russian murse grabbing your pinky with both hands and pulling very hard. God I wish they gave me more lidocaine."
TelevisionOlympics
Functions
"If you have a surgery where they need to move your organs around they might not function for a day as the body assumes that they are dead."
tonythebutcher13
Move things around? You mean that's not fake when it happens on "Grey's Anatomy?"
"The only reason you are not aware of it is because the ambient noise kind of drowns it out because your ears focus on it. If you go to one of those super-silent rooms that absorb all sorts of sounds, it is a really weird way to reacquaint yourself with your body."
Black_Handkerchief
The Mouth
"Idk about the most disturbing but how bad human teeth are. We’d think it’s our sugary and processed diets these days that cause it, but even Otzi the iceman discovered in Italy was found to have terrible teeth, mouth diseases and cavities. It’s odd that even with the most basic of diets our teeth are so bad."
Dorianisconfused
In the bowels...
"I noticed this after my abdominal surgery. When I turned over in bed my guts seemed to fall from one side to the other. Mentioned to my doc and she confirmed it was my bowels rearranging themselves."
squatter_
"Apparently the doctor just throws your intestines back in there higgeldy-piggeldy because there isn't a correct way to pack them neatly."
LostDesigner9
A Quick Burst
"There are a vast number of ways that your body can malfunction and kill you with little or no warning. An aneurysm can go undetected until it bursts and kills you. Getting hit in the chest just the right way can stop your heart. You can encounter an allergen that never previously provoked an immune response that freaks out your body so badly that you die. You literally just never know if your body will just... die."
Unsolicited_Spiders
The body is such a conundrum. Sexy and gross all at once.
Want to "know" more?
Sign up for the Knowable newsletter here.
Never miss another big, odd, funny or heartbreaking moment again.