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People Describe The Most Terrifying Experience They've Ever Lived Through

People Describe The Most Terrifying Experience They've Ever Lived Through
Image by Gisela Merkuur from Pixabay

When I was a child, I got lost in the woods while playing hide and seek with some cousins. We roamed through the woods for a few hours. The fog rolled in as the day gave way to dusk. It grew chilly. Every sound was amplified: the cracking of tree branches, the rustling of leaves. It was enormously creepy. I have never forgotten it. I tend to prefer staying in civilization, as you can imagine. The woods––and nature itself––can stay right where it is!

After Redditor Edgardhb asked the online community, "What is THE most terrifying experience you've ever had?" people told us about their experiences.

Warning: Some sensitive material ahead.

"I eventually heard some noise..."

I got trapped somewhere no one ever visits, and my phone was out of reach.

I work at an a major airport as IT Tech.

This summer I was working deep down within the airport. Basement level -7, basically only used for pipes and cabling. Ive only ever seen one other person down there, which has just been made even worse with COVID, I never see anyone down there now. Normally we'd work in pairs, but again, because of the virus, that wasnt allowed, and we where told to make sure our phones where always charged.

I was working within an IT Cabinet and bending down a lot, and so I didn't want to drop and smash my phone, so I put it on a nearby table. Whilst I was working part of the cabinet collapsed and pinned one of my arms, It was extremely heavy, and I couldn't move my arm at all, nor could I reach my phone. I knew no-one within my company knew where I was working, so I just sat and shouted for a bit, and was also trying anything to reach my phone, but it was just out of reach, after a while I just lost hope. It felt like I'd been down there for days, Lost in my own thoughts about how surely they'd be searching the airport by now, and what they'd do if they discovered my body. How my family would react, what would be on the news. All that stuff.

I eventually heard some noise in the distance and started shouting/screaming a bit. Eventually heard someone running, and god damn, I was never so relieved too see someones face, He passed me my phone and I called my manager, within minutes my own team and multiple security guards had rushed to me, and they managed to deconstruct the cabinet and get me free. It had been 8 hours but it felt like eternity.

No serious injuries, just some pretty bad bruising. The person who found me told me he was an engineer who'd been called out to fix a broken elevator. God knows what would've happened if that elevator hadn't broken.

JammyHall2000

"We both go into our bathroom..."

I was 7 months pregnant with our first child and not sleeping well at night. I was laying in bed, trying to find a comfortable position when I hear something that sounds like glasses tinkling together. I give my husband a shove and tell him what I heard. He grunts that it's probably one of our cats, rolls over and continues snoring. I still lay there. Then I hear mens voices. My heart felt like it stopped.

I shove my husband hard and whisper that I hear people talking. He begrudgingly gets up. I tell him to get the gun just in case. He waves me off and heads to our bedroom door. I see his hand pause on the handle and the he locks our door and runs to his bedside table, getting the gun and telling me to call 911 because he hears guys in our house.

We both go into our bathroom, shut the door. I'm in the closet calling 911 and he's halfway in the closet doorway and halfway crouching behind our dresser with the gun pointed at the door. We are both shaking. I tell the 911 operator what is going on and out address. They say police are in route.

While waiting, both my husband and I have the same thought. Earlier in the day I had been on his computer (he's a gamer and has several monitors) working on lesson plans for when I went on my maternity leave on one monitor and watching the show Supernatural on the other. When my husband got home from work, I just paused the show and hung out with him.

So now we are hiding in the closet with a gun and wondering if one of our cats jumped on the desk and accidentally stepped on the keyboard and unpaused it. I tell the 911 operator all of this and my husband decides to go listen at the door again. He comes back saying it's silent and we are like what are the chances that a cat upsized the video and then paused it again.

The 911 operator says police have arrived, put out gun away and meet them at the front door. As soon as we leave the bedroom we see my giant mainecoon cat straight up laying across the keyboard like a fat little @sshole.

Yep. We got the crap scared out of us and Five cop cars showed up at our house because my cat unpaused the computer. My husband now refers to that night and the Night of the Naked Gun.

Mom-tired-send-wine

"I was almost abducted..."

I was almost abducted by a weird man in a playground when I was 6. While my mother was out buying some meal, a strange man proposed me to go to his car by giving me a chocolate and told me I would get more of those if I followed him. Fortunately, a woman I do not know actually saved me and told the man she was my mom and threatened him to spray gas with her pepper spray on his eyes and call the police if he did not leave. He walked away and I never heard of him.

When I was older, around 10 to 12, my mom told me the story and it actually frightened me. I never could have seen and thanked that woman who saved me.

a_glass_of_water_uwu

"I was living there..."

Being chased by a man with a gun through the streets of El Salvador. I was living there as a 20-year-old volunteer at the time and it was pitch black, pouring rain, and there was no one around. It was terrifying.

GossipGuitar

"Was on the 71st floor..."

Was on the 71st floor of One World Trade Center when it was bombed in February, 1993. Took me four hours to get out and I was covered in soot. Three times that day thought I was going to die.

calypsodweller

"I immediately started sprinting..."

I was walking home late at night and a van started tailing me. I was on my home street so I didn't run in case I was being paranoid. Then the van stopped a guy got out and the one in the diver seat yelled "Get her!"

I immediately started sprinting to my house. The guy got back in the van and they drove beside me till I got to the front door and then drove off.

I think they were just two guys thinking it'd be fun to give someone a scare. Still though, I was pretty freaked out.

On the more psychological side, finding out my mom had breast cancer, and dealing with the fact that I would have to live without her.

slightlydefective

"About a month ago..."

This may not be terrifying to some people but it was to me.

About a month ago, I was bringing the trash cans up from the end of the driveway, and my dog was with me. He was a miniature pinscher that we rescued from the shelter when he was a puppy. In the 12 years we had him, I'd never seen him go into the road. We had a power pole near the end of the driveway, and if I went past that to get the mail or whatever, he'd sit at the power pole and wait for me. For whatever reason, on this night, he didn't.

So I grab the trash cans and start pulling them, and a car passes by. They hit the brakes, I hear something thud, and then they absolutely floor it.

It was dark outside, so I didn't exactly realize what happened. At first I was like "That dude just hit an armadillo," and "there's no way he hit Roscoe". But I couldn't see Roscoe at the power pole so I turned my phone light on and walked into the road.

And there was my little buddy.

It was so unreal, picking my dog up out of the middle of the road while he's just pouring blood and teeth and twitching like crazy. I carried him to the ditch and held him while I called my parents and (quite hysterically) told them Roscoe had been run over.

I guess it isn't quite terrifying as much as it is traumatizing, but I have had constant nightmares about it since then. I hope that he felt me there and felt my love, and I hope my hysterical crying didn't scare him. He died in my arms, and I carried him up the driveway and wrapped him in a towel (after putting my other two dogs in the house) and I just sat in the yard with him and cried and rocked him.

Another of our dogs passed away a few weeks later. It's been a long month.

copyandprincess

"I had a stalker..."

I had a stalker that would call me a lot, never answered after the first couple calls and started leaving threatening voicemails. Kept seeing the same car near my apartment and sometimes when i would go somewhere else like a friends house. Always had the headlights off never saw the face of the person because the windows were tinted. Got woken up around 2am to someone banging on the back door for a good 10 minutes. Didn't look out my window didn't move a muscle but I was glad I had the door locked that night I sometimes forget to. Incidents stopped after that but started having intense agorophobia again because of it. Living as a trans person in the rural midwest was terrible im glad I left and never looked back.

givemeseizures

"We made it to the basement..."

There was a tornado that passed about a mile from my house back in April. Now, I am a tornado hardy Midwesterner, normally it would not be that big of a deal. But my husband was at work that night. My daughter woke me up to the sirens at about 11, and I turned on the tv to see how bad it really was. When I saw it really was close we ran out into the hallway and called for my son. As we stood at the top of the landing the power went out. That, for me , was the more terrifying part of the night. It was like a movie.

We made it to the basement and rode it out, no problem. But that moment at the top of the stairs still gives me nightmares.

Hooray4kate123

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Old Wives' Tales People Still Believe For Some Reason

"Reddit user the_spring_goddess asked: 'What is an old wives tale that people still believe?'"

Close up of an owl tilting their head to side, looking bewildered
Photo by Josh Mills

The old wives' tales.

They are the stories of legend.

I think we all need a big DEEP Google dive though.

Where did they originate?

WHO ARE THE OLD WIVES!

You don't hear about them as much anymore.

It's like science and logic are suddenly a thing.

But they sure are a good way to keep your kids and their behavior in line.

Redditor the_spring_goddess wanted to discuss the tall tales we've all been fed through life, so they asked:

"What is an old wives tale that people still believe?"

"Wait an hour to swim after eating."

What a crock!

So many summer hours wasted.

I want revenge for that one.

Say Nothing

Giphy

"An undercover cop has to tell you he's a cop if you ask him."

LonelyMail5115

"Pretty much most advice when it comes to cops are old wives tales. I’m not even a cop but most of the advice you hear is pretty off."

I_AM_AN_A**HOLE_AMA

Say Something

"That you have to wait 24 hours to report someone missing."

Severe_Airport1426

"I really think this one is important and should be the top regardless. As it’s a piece of advice that needs to be relearned and the only way to do that is through awareness."

crappycurtains

"This used to be true. I think they changed it after some guy named Brandon went missing back in the '80s or '70s. You used to have to wait 24 hours if the missing person was an adult because they had 'a right to be missing' and then everyone realized that was stupid and stopped doing it."

AlbinoShavedGorilla

Body Temps

"That drinking ice cold water after eating oily foods will solidify the oil and permanently remain in your body. I informed my coworker that if your body temperature ever reached that point, you’d have bigger problems than weight gain."

chriseo22

"Oh, I have a cousin who 100% believed this. One of those guys who believed every early 2000s internet rumor and old wives tale. One night I chugged a big glass of ice water after dinner and he started freaking out and saying my guts were gonna harden."

"I sarcastically told him to drive me to the hospital if that happened. Obviously, nothing happened and the next morning I said something like 'Thanks for being on standby in case my guts filled with hardened oil.' He just walked off muttering under his breath."

apocalypticradish

Arms Down

"When I was pregnant, I was told by young and old alike that I should NOT raise my arms above my head or exert myself in such a manner because it could cause cord strangulation to my unborn sons and daughters."

Fatmouse84

10 Years Actually

Unimpressed Uh Huh GIF by Brooklyn Nine-Nine Giphy

"Chewing gum stays in your stomach for 7 years."

REDDIT

"I remember accidentally swallowing a piece of gum when I was a kid in like 1995 and just accepting my fate like welp, gonna have this in my stomach til high school I guess."

Gecko-911

I was so afraid to sallow my gum when I was young.

This tale is haunting.

High/Low

Hungry Debra Messing GIF by Will & Grace Giphy

"You can tell the sex of the baby by how you carry."

LeastFormal9366

"Pregnancy certainly wins awards for the most old wives tales. So much absolute BS was repeated to us by everyone we talked to."

IllIIIlIllIlIIlIllI

The Cursed

"If you’re a woman and you wear opal jewelry but opal is not your birthstone (October), you’ll never be able to have children, or will be widowed, or just generally have bad luck or something. You can counteract this by having a diamond in the same piece of jewelry as the opal, though."

"I have a nice opal ring that my parents gave me years ago, and I’ve had other women give me this 'advice' unprompted more than once when I’ve worn it. I have absolutely no idea where it started, but I’m pretty sure this little chunk of silicate rock has no concept of what month I was born in, let alone of how my reproductive organs work."

SmoreOfBabylon

Stay In

"Going outside with wet hair will make you get pneumonia. Or an earache. Or maybe arthritis. Depends on which old wife you listen to."

"Jokes on them - I haven't blow-dried my hair in decades and usually leave the house with wet hair in the morning. On winter mornings, the tips of my hair get frozen. No ear infections or pneumonia or arthritis yet."

worldbound0514

Dreams and Facts

"You never make anyone up in your dreams you've seen everyone in your dreams somewhere else before and never make anyone up entirely."

"How would you possibly prove that to be true? My partner adamantly believes this and tells me this 'fact' whenever I have a dream about someone I've never met before."

mattshonestreddit

"My late wife used to tell me that before she met me she would have dreams of standing at an alter on her wedding day but could never see the guy's face, no matter how hard she tried. After meeting me the face was filled in with mine. Don't know if it's true but one of those things I like thinking of every now and then when I miss her."

Darthdemented

Cracked

Getting Ready Episode 2 GIF by The Office Giphy

"Some people still believe cracking knuckles causes arthritis."

Choice-Grapefruit-44

"There's a doctor (Donald Unger) that cracked his knuckles a couple of times a day for 60 years, but only on one hand, just to prove it. Both hands remained exactly the same."

MacyTmcterry

I love my knuckles.

Do you have any tall tales to add to the list? Let us know in the comments below.

old wives tales

People Who Wouldn't Quit Their Job If They Won The Lottery Explain What They Do

lottery tickets
Erik Mclean on Unsplash

A lot of workers daydream about some day winning the lottery and being able to say goodbye to their job.

Far too many workers are unhappy with their job duties, workplace dynamics or company culture.

But with a taste for luxuries like housing and food, they keep plugging away, year after year.

However not everyone feels that way about their job.

So what are these compelling careers?

Keep reading... Show less
work

People Break Down The Biggest Bombshells Their Therapist Ever Dropped On Them

Therapist talking during session
Photo by Mark Williams on Unsplash

Some people stand firmly stand behind their beliefs that everyone would benefit from therapy and that therapy is life-changing.

It's because of the totally life-changing truth bombs their therapist had dropped during their sessions.

Curious, Redditor anonymiss0018 asked:

"What is a little bombshell your therapist dropped in one of your sessions that completely changed your outlook?"

Communication Issues

"'If you don’t have these problems with any other person in your life, why do you think you’re the problematic person in this one?'"

- maggiebear

"I love this. I have a 'friend' who I always seem to run into misunderstandings with. Every time we had a conversation, it somehow turned into a debate even if it was me talking about my day. The conversations were never easy."

"I always evaluate myself first and take into consideration his critiques. He was very good at convincing me that I was contradicting myself or wasn't good at communicating my thoughts."

"I NEVER had this issue with ANYONE else in my life. I kept trying to figure out where the miscommunication was coming from. In the end, I just minimized contact and now I don't run into this issue."

- chobani_yo

"I read this quote somewhere once (and probably have it a bit wrong): 'It's a waste of time arguing with someone who is determined to misunderstand you.'"

- Reddit

Emotional Regulation

"'You can’t control your emotions, but you can control what you do with them.'"

"At the time, I was a young adult who had learned zero healthy emotional regulation skills (only suppression and shaming) growing up, so this blew my mind."

- lil_mermaid

Tough Relationships

"'It sounds to me like you are trying to convince yourself to stay with your girlfriend. I'm not so sure it should be so difficult.'"

"At the time he said this, I remember it was like he said, 'The earth is flat.' I thought he was crazy when he suggested relationships don't need to be difficult. But eventually, I started to realize I was trying to change myself to stay with this person rather than just being who I am."

"It took me three more months to finally break up with her but from that day on, I vowed to never again abandon myself just to be with someone I had convinced myself was better than me."

- metric88

High-Stress Situation

"I was at a high-stress time, and I asked her how people live like this."

"She replied, 'Oftentimes they have cardiac events.' She said it as an urging to care for myself as much as possible."

- KittenGr8r

The End of Alcohol

"I was struggling with my alcoholism, and we were discussing how I had been cutting back."

"She asked what I would consider success, with regard to my drinking."

"I said I wanted to get to a point where it wasn't interfering with my daily life. I wanted to just be able to have a glass of wine at holiday dinners or family gatherings."

"She simply asked me why. Why was it important for me to drink at those times?"

"It was as if she'd turned on a light. Alcohol had always been a key ingredient in every family function, for my entire life. When I smell bourbon, I think of my uncle. When I smell vermouth, I think of my dad. Alcohol ran through almost every happy childhood memory."

"But, even more than that, I was very afraid of the explanation I'd have to give when family and friends asked why I wasn't having a drink. I had tried to quit before but failed. What if I admitted my problem, only to fall off the wagon?"

"When she asked why I didn't want to completely quit, it was the first time I saw that last part of the big picture. I'd be willing to drink myself to death in order to avoid being scrutinized, or judged for possible future failures."

"That was the day I quit. I've been sober since May 6th, 2017. 2,407 days."

- sophies_wish

Acceptance vs. Enjoyment

"'Accepting something doesn’t mean you have to like it.'"

"That took away a lot of my inner conflicts about situations because I could accept a situation without expending energy internally fighting against the injustice of it."

- alibelloc

Emotionally Immature Parents

"You are not responsible for your parents' emotional wellbeing. They are independent adults who have been on this earth for many more years than you."

- SmokedPears

Not So Lazy

"'Why do you think you're lazy?' Then she listed off all the things she knows I'm doing for my family, my job, and my life."

"It kind of blew my mind when I struggled to come up with an example."

"She also described family dysfunction as water. Some families are messed up in a way that everyone can see the huge waves across the surface. Others are better at hiding it, but there's still a riptide that you can't see unless you're also in the water."

"It made me realize that trying to keep the surface from ever rippling doesn't erase what is happening underneath."

- flybyknight665

The Harm in People-Pleasing

"'Why do you make people more comfortable when you are uncomfortable?' when talking about people pleasing and fawning."

- ERsandwich

Agree to Disagree

"'Stop trying to get everyone to agree. When you need everyone to agree, the least agreeable person has all the power.'"

This really changed my outlook on planning family events."

- freef

Grieve and Start Anew

"For context, I had a major TBI (traumatic brain injury), seizures, strokes, and all around not a fun brain time when I was 28."

"They said, 'You have to grieve the loss of yourself.'"

"Most people wanted me to go back to how I was. The f**ked up truth is that part of my brain is dead. The person everyone (including myself) knew died. I needed to grieve the loss of myself."

- squeaktoy_la

Multifaceted Identity

"They told me that my job and career is just a way to make money; it's not my life or identity. That took a lot of pressure off me."

- unfairpegasus

Breaking the Cycle

"They validated me."

"'You always talk about not wanting to do to your daughters what your mom did to you. You worry about it so much in every interaction you have ever had with them."

"But your children are 19 and 21 now. They are happy and healthy and they trust you because you’ve never abused them in any way. So I just want to validate for you that you really have broken that cycle of violence."

"You did that. And you should be proud of it. I’m proud of you for it.'"

- puppsmcgee74

The Grieving Process

"I was constantly bringing up how I felt like a completely different person after my mom died... like there was a marked difference between before and after her death."

"But once, she was asking about my hobbies, I got really into describing all the things I loved to do or at least used to do before I got into a deep depression."

"She was like, 'Wow, you seem very passionate.'"

"And I just sat there like, 'Well, I mean, I can't change what I like to do, they're still fun to do.'"

"And it's like she knew when to take a step back, because it was like, wow, I may be super depressed about my mom passing, but I'm still me. I'm still my passions and those don't go away."

"I don't know, maybe it only makes sense to be, but it really started getting me back on track."

- Hannibal680

Sharing the Load

"I've never really had friends. I've had colleagues and classmates and housemates and people who have hung out with me, but I never really felt close to any of them."

"And I did that thing you see on here sometimes; I stopped reaching out to see if I would be reached out to, and I wasn't, which I took as confirmation that they didn't really want me around, or at the very least, that they wouldn't mind my absence."

"I was talking to my therapist about people I'd been close to in college, and she told me to pick one and talk about him. So I did. After I shared some basic stuff like his name and his major etc., and a couple of anecdotes, she asked me what else I knew about him."

"And I couldn't answer. It wasn't really a broadly applicable bombshell, but she said, 'What else?' and I started crying because I realized that for as simple as the question was, my inability to answer spoke volumes."

"I've never had good friends because I've never been a good friend. I'm withdrawn and reserved and I always made others do the work to drag me out, without ever extending my own friendship in a meaningful way in return. If I wanted to have meaningful relationships with other people, I would have to build them."

"I'm still working on this, but I'm trying to make more offers and extend more friendliness to others in my daily life."

- Backupusername

The discoveries in this thread were incredibly touching and profound; it's no wonder these were lasting concepts for these Redditors.

It's important to keep ourselves open to inspiration and insights from others, as we have no idea how their experiences could help us, or how we could help them.

therapy

People Describe The Most 'Small Town' Thing They've Ever Witnessed

Aerial view of a church in a small town
Sander Weeteling/Unsplash

There's something comforting about living in a small town.

It's characterized by close communities where neighbors know each other by name and there is an abundance of kindness extended to others.

Gift-giving is a commonality, as is the sharing of recipes, and people going out of their way to help each other in a time of need.

The pace of living in small towns is also a striking contradiction to city life, where crowds of people go about their busy lives without much interaction.

Curious to hear more examples of what small town living is like, Redditor official_biz asked:

"What's the most 'small town' thing you've witnessed?"

These are positive examples of a tight-knit community.

Live Updates

"We have a village Facebook page. Every time the ice cream man drives into the village, the entire page goes ballistic. People send live updates of where the van is and which direction he's heading. The ice cream man has started accepting DMs so he knows which streets to go down."

– PyrrhuraMolinae

Brush With The Law

"I’m from a town of less than 2,000 people. When I worked at the grocery store there people would often drop off stuff for my family members because they didn’t want to drive all the way down to our house. I no longer live there but recently got a call from my daughter. She had been stopped for speeding and handed over her license and insurance which happens to be in my mother’s name. The officer goes 'Hey, you’re Donnie’s granddaughter! I ain’t gonna write you a ticket but I’m telling Donnie when I see him tomorrow cause we’re going fishing.' She replied 'I think I’d rather have the ticket.'”

- Reddit

Roadside Catchup

"The traffic on the 'main street' of my town is so sparse, two drivers going opposite directions can stop and talk to each other for a few minutes without causing any problem."

– anon

When things go wrong, people take notice without incident.

Bank Robbery

"A guy robbed a bank and everyone knew immediately who he was and the teller got mad at him."

– AlexRyang

"A local bank was robbed and one of the tellers told the police to bring her a yearbook from about ten years earlier and she would be able to point the robber out. He had been in the grade before hers in school."

– Strict_Condition_632

Wise Woman

"When I worked at the bank in town there was an older lady that had worked there through 5 mergers."

"She knew everyone, there was a young guy yelling at me one day. She walked out of the back and he immediately quieted. She went off about telling his grandmother that he was treating young women like sh*t. She also said that if he didn’t straighten up not one girl in town would ever marry him she would make sure of it."

– ilurvekittens

Intoxicated Local

"Town drunk was paralyzed and used a motorized wheelchair to get around. I was driving home one Saturday night and said town drunk was passed out in his wheelchair doing circles almost directly in the town square. Had to call his brother who came and picked him up on a rollback truck. Strapped him down and drove off into the cold dark night."

– DoodooExplosion

Grazing Over To The Bar

"In my former small town, there was an older guy who'd lost his license after getting a few DUIs. Every day, he would ride his John Deere lawnmower to the corner bar around 3PM and sit around watching TV and sipping his beer well into the night. Then he'd head the couple miles back home on his mower. He even had a little canvass shell he put on when it rained or got too cold."

– brown_pleated_slacks

It's not surprising how small town people behave differently than those who are from metropolitan areas.

Welcoming Committee

"I lived in a small town. When I moved there, people would ask, 'Whose house did you buy?'"

–MoonieNine

"Move to a small town. 30 years later, you are still the new guy."

– impiousdrifter

"I lived in a small town for most of my childhood but I wasn't "from there" because my grandparents weren't from there."

– raisinghellwithtrees

"Worked with an older guy, relative of the owner of the business, he was 73. I asked him if he was a local, he said 'no his parents moved here when he was two.'"

– realneil

A Busy Day

"Lived in a town of about 5,000: A woman walked into the DMV on a Friday, saw that there were 3 people ahead of her and left to come back another time when they weren't so busy."

– KenmoreToast

Who Let The Dogs Out?

"My dogs got out while i was working. the police called my niece's elementary school (she was a 5th grader) to get her to round them up and take them back home."

– mediocrelpn

"There was a small kennel behind the police station for runaways. They called us saying they had our dog, and moments later our dog showed up home. He broke out of jail."

– Worried_Place_917

While life in a small town sounds appealing, I don't know if I can ever live in one.

I'm so used to life in big cities, I think it would be quite unnerving to adjust in a neighborhood where everyone literally knows your business.

I would be paranoid.

And I'm sure the same could be said of life in the big city.

Would you consider making the switch to life in a different setting?

living