WARNING: Some photos may relate to crimes or scenes of a graphic nature
Sometimes, it's easier to let pictures speak for themselves.
But some require an explanation to understand what we see.
Reddit user, ohsopoor, apparently didn't want to sleep easy that night when they asked:
"What photo has the creepiest backstory?"
"This is it!"
"This photo, taken at 7 PM, May 18th, 1980 in the forests of Washington state. In the photo is David A. Johnston, star vulcanologist for the United States Geological Survey, camped at his trailer at his field post."
"Less than 24 hours later, Johnston, the trailer, and everything else within ~30 miles would be obliterated by a lateral blast from Mount St. Helens' eruption, making Johnston the first US Government Vulcanologist to be killed in the line of duty."
"His last words were a radio call to the USGS station in Vancouver WA, which you can find recordings of online: 'Vancouver! Vancouver! This is it!'"
moss-fete
A Rod For Connection
"This photo of Michael McQuilken and his brother, Sean, moments before they were struck by lightning. It gives me chills every time I see it."
I_dont_know_you_pick
Seconds Before...
This picture was taken by Filipino councilman Reynaldo Dagsa, right before he was assassinated by the gunman on the left.
"'His death achieved notoriety due to his taking of a New Year's Day family photo on Tuna Street which inadvertently captured the faces of both his killer and a lookout for the killer; the shooter, a convicted robber out on parole, pointed the gun in the photo directly at Dagsa seconds before the shot went off.'"
"'Dagsa was rushed to Martinez Hospital but was immediately pronounced dead from a .45-caliber gunshot wound to the head. The photo was later turned over to Caloocan city police; the shooter in the photo was identified as Arnel Buenaflor, who was arrested on January 7, and two suspected accomplices, one Michael Gonzales (alias Fubo of Fish Pond Area I) and Rommel Oliva (alias Balong), were arrested by January 3 in connection with the murder.'"
Ennion
Never Assume What You Think You Know
"There's this photo. Looks harmless enough until you know that the car behind them is packed with explosives and does this a few minutes later. Absolute carnage. It's the Omagh Bombings. The Real IRA set the bomb, called the police and gave them wrong information and sent people in the direction of the said bomb. The bombing killed 29 people (including a woman pregnant with twins) and injured some 220 others, making it the deadliest single incident of the Troubles in Northern Ireland."
freddie_delfigalo
Love Beyond
"This picture of a Japanese boy standing in attention while carrying his dead brother. A powerful image of what war can do to regular people."
arb7721
Missing, But Never Far
"Girl went missing. Was found dead days later, in between the footboard and mattress of her bed. This photo was taken while her body was unknowingly there. Parents slept in the bed because they missed her, not knowing she was down at their feet. If you find the video explaining it, it actually seems totally plausible."
CarlaWasThePromQueen
All That Remains
"A Congolese man looking at the severed hand and foot of his five-year-old daughter who was killed, and allegedly cannibalized, by the members of Anglo-Belgian India Rubber Company militia."
f**kdit
Just Think Of Being Stuck In There...
"Not a photograph but the diagram of the cave diver who got stuck in Nutty Putty Cave and died. Here is another picture of a cave diver maneuvering through a part of the same cave. Edit: To make things worse. When they were trying to rescue him, they used a pully and had him mostly out of the part he was stuck in but the rope broke and he fell back in."
StockAL3Xj
"There is a lot of terrible stuff in this thread but this is the one that really made me squirm. I don't consider myself claustrophobic but dark and tightly confined spaces freak me the hell out."
SaunteringOctopus
No Way Down
"Two guys on a windmill. There's no escape."
getbent61
"This happened on 29 of October in the Netherlands (in Ooltgensplaat to be more precise). A crew of four was conducting routine maintenance to the 67 meter high turbine. They were in a gondola next to the turbine when a fire broke out. The fire quickly engulfed the only escape route (the stairs in the shaft), trapping two of the maintenance crew on top of the turbine."
"One of them jumped down and was found in a field next to the turbine. The other victim was found by a special firefighter team that ascended the turbine when the fire died down a bit. The cause of the fire is unknown, but is believed to be a short circuit."
"Firefighters are fairly powerless to do anything to fight fires on wind turbines, and due to high costs maintenance crews have limited means and training to escape an emergency situation..."
psycho_watcher
No One Will Have Any Idea What I did
"The picture of Tyler Hadley standing next to his bro during a house party ... shortly after Tyler killed his parents, hid the bodies and then threw a party. Nobody there knew what happened earlier, despite Tyler acting strange. I think a dog somehow got in the house and discovered the bodies. Very chilling, especially the AIM messages ... and the story really upsets me."
A Pool Party With Their Coffin
"I don't know if this counts, but the photo of the Apollo 1 crew chilling in the pool after a water landing exercise with the same capsule in the photo that shortly after caught fire and sent them to their death."
this_is_not_gran
"For those that don't know, like me just a moment ago, Apollo 1 was destroyed in a fire during a launch test."
workthrowaway212
Not Fully Alive
"This picture of Samantha Koenig taken by serial killer, Israel Keyes after she'd been killed. Her eyes were sewn open and he'd put makeup on her and positioned her to appear alive in this ransom photo, two weeks after her death."
leahmarie315
Just Wanted To See The World
"This Photo of a teen boy from Australia if I remember correctly, who just wanted to see the world. Consequently, he ran away and stowed away in the wheel well of this airplane. The photographer did not mean to capture this image, as he was testing out a brand new camera by taking photos of airplanes at his local airport. He did not realize what he had captured until afterwards."
7cemn7
Observing Their Handiwork
"The picture depicts a woman holding a puppy on the moors in England, and she's looking at the ground. Seems alright until you look into it. She's one half of one of the most infamous serial killer couples in the world, and she's sat on the grave of John Kilbride. He was 12 when he was abducted from Ashton-under-Lyne Market in Greater Manchester. John was the second victim. Three more children would follow, two being buried on the same moors. One body was never recovered."
"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moors_murders"
noodlesandpizza
"Myra Hindley. Her and Ian Brady refused to tell the last child's mother where he was buried, she died not long ago not knowing where her son ever was or being able to find him and lay him to rest properly. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-manchester-19305055"
chloecorey
Revealing What You Always Were
"This selfie taken by James Holmes, with his hair dyed, wearing black contacts, and holding a pistol. He would later be known as the culprit behind the 2012 Aurora Shooting during a midnight showing of the movie The Dark Knight Rises."
ThisKidErrt
Lost Without Knowing
"Lisanne Froon and Kris Kremers managed to document getting lost in the jungle in Panama. They kept going past the marked easy trail instead of turning around went down the other side of the mountain, they wound up lost with no real hiking/camping supplies in dense, sparsely populated wilderness. At least one of them survived for a week. That photo is one of the last touristy ones, but they're probably already lost in it without realizing."
IDGAF1203
The "Truck Stop Killer" Strikes
"Last photo before she (Regina Kay Walters) was killed by Robert Ben Rhoades"
Aphala
"Robert Benjamin Rhoades (born November 22, 1945), also known as The Truck Stop Killer, is an American serial killer. He was convicted for three murders, and slated to be tried for two more before charges were dropped due to the wishes of victims' families. He is additionally suspected of torturing, and killing more than 50 women between 1975 and 1990, based on data about his truck routes and women who went missing during those years and who met the profile of his preferred victims. At the time he was caught, he claimed to have engaged in these activities for 15 years. Rhoades took photos of some of his victims, the best known being his last victim, Regina Kay Walters, whom he took photos of moments before her murder in an abandoned barn in Illinois. "
-https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Ben_Rhoades
silversatire
Moments Before Pulling the Trigger
"...it leads to a photo of a girl looking out over a canyon. Her boyfriend took the photo, and then shot her in the back of the head and pushed her over the edge."
"A MAN took a series of chilling final pictures of his ex-girlfriend as they hiked together in the Alabamian countryside before he pushed her off a cliff."
"Loren Bunner shot 18-year-old Jolee Callan twice — once in the back of the head and once between the eyes — and shoved her from the top of a cliff."
"It had been Bunner's idea to go for the hike and the night before Callan messaged a friend joking: "If something happens to me, you'll know who I was with."
dvltonwillvms
Stuck With Me
"This is one that always stuck with me, just the way you have this bustling city in one frame, and the same city scythed clean with nuclear fire in the next. It's hard to imagine that level of devastation, a blast that burned civilians into the pavement and left shadows that would still be there decades later. Hiroshima - Before And After Bombing"
Madrojian
the gestapo
"My great grandfather was forced to work for a gestapo officer during the occupation of Fance. when he escaped, he stole two albums of coloured photos of the Nazis' rise to power. there are photos of goebbels and hitler smiling with children. it's a very chilling family heirloom."
allhailtheboi
Anything To Survive
"During the famine in the USSR in the 1920s some people resorted to cannibalism to avoid starvation. This photo is a couple selling their dismembered children for meat to get enough money to buy other food. Warning photo is NSFW (potentially NSFL)"
DanielDaishiro
Locked Away
"A woman was locked in a room for 24 years. This is the picture that was taken the day she was rescued. Here's a New York Times article (published in 1901) and an easy-to-digest story about it."
twistedpixel
In the Van
"I don’t have any context or link to the photo, but there was a Polaroid found from the 70s or early 80s with two tied up kids in the back of a van who looked terrified. There was a girl that had gone missing who looked pretty similar to one of the kids who were tied up, and the mom of the girl swore until her death that it was her daughter."
Alexallen21
Suffering
"I think this qualifies but Omayra Sanchez. She was caught in the eruption of the Nevado del Ruiz volcano in Colombia. Rescues crew tried to take her out, but her legs were stuck under a concrete door and they couldn't remove her without cutting off her legs, which they simply were completely unequipped to do. The doctors decided the more humane thing was to just let her die. She suffered through three nights before dying."
tchuckss
GIF by The Simpsons
Giphy
Blocked...
"I'm gonna say that one photo found on the camera of either a serial killer or his victim where he photographed her shortly before murdering her. It was the last picture ever taken of her, obviously, and she looks disturbed and afraid. I have blocked out the names of everyone involved."
sexburp
Every photo may tell a story, but not every story is a happy one.
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When we're intoxicated, or even the slightest bit tipsy from having a little too much to drink, our immediate perspective on things is hazy.
But there's nothing like a bit of alarming news or a jarring incident to snap us out of the fog and focus on the moment.
Sometimes alcohol isn't always to blame for our impairment.
It can be a state of mind, like a perpetual numbness from being complacent in life, and all it takes is one shocking moment to rattle us back to our senses.
Curious to hear from strangers online about this type of scenario, Redditor Known_Challenge_7150 asked:
"What’s one thing that sobered you up real quick?"
These individuals were witness to shocking events that sobered them up right quick.
Bleeding Out
"Got out of a taxi and found a naked man profusely bleeding from his head crawling up the driveway in my condo. Called him an ambulance completely forgot I was absolutely wasted until 45 minutes later when I'd helped him translate and in to an amublance and stepped in my front door."
"Later a few days later learned he'd slipped in the tub and literally crawled out for help. Poor dude. He was fine but I genuinely thought he was going to die there."
– DongLaiCha
Tragic News
"At a bachelor party and we got a phone call that the groom’s father had suddenly passed."
– accountnameredacted
Bottom Of The Barrel
"I went to visit my parents back in July. I was homeless and deep into fentanyl addiction so I lost a lot of weight. My folks could see it. They knew something was up. Anyway, I spent the night and I was getting ready to leave in the morning and I looked at myself in the mirror for a good long time. I finally had enough and told them everything. They took me to detox, from there I went to rehab. Graduated in August and been living with them ever since then. I have 160 days clean and sober."
– Crotch-Monster
A reality check can be enough for some people to snap out of it.
Like Father, Like Son
"Was driving a drunk friend home, he had been on a bender again and was smart enough to call me for a lift rather than try and drive. As I helped in to his house his mother came down the stairs and said 'your as drunk as your father' and went back upstairs. I haven't seen him drunk since then, he still drinks but the thought of turning into his dad scared him out of hard drinking."
– psycospaz
Busted
"Flashing blue lights."
– FiddleOfGold
"This sobered me up just thinking about it."
– redmaple_syrup
Losing Sight
"Woke up to no sight in one eye. I had cataract surgery so just thought one of the lenses had slipped and it was an easy fix. Eye doc says nope, you had a stroke. I loved soy sauce, teriyaki sauce and salty food, which caused high blood pressure, which caused retina damage. Over six months was able to get most of my eyesight back with medication, and all back within a year. Trying to navigate life with one eye was very sobering. Started taking HBP much more seriously."
– MissHibernia
Quitting The Bottle
"Looked up someone I went to highschool with who was an awesome guy. Found out he had been dead for 3 years from alcoholism, at age 33. I made an overnight change. I hadn't started drinking that night yet, 10 months ago. Haven't touched it again since."
– omgtater
These disturbing moments were enough for Redditors to immediately come to their senses.
Unplanned House Guests
"Me and a buddy Woke up in someone’s living room, realized neither one of us knew the people, they were just nice and let 2 drunk guys sleep on their living room floor. We didn’t even say goodbye."
– Oneinsevenbillion75
Serious Health Warning
"Elevated liver enzymes."
"And the knowledge that this sh** was gonna kill me and I just couldn't orphan my family over it."
"So I opted for recovery, instead."
"Clean and sober since June 5, 2009."
– Far_Meal8674
The Joyride
"Grew up in a rural area. The little town hosted dances at the hockey arena, everyone (adults and kids) went and they overserved everyone, regardless of age. I was maybe 16 or 17 and was absolutely sh*tfaced, and jumped in the back of someone's truck with about 8 other people to go back to someone's cottage for after dance drinking. The driver (still don't know who it was) started racing one of his buddies and we whipped around small dirt roads, flying around blind corners on the wrong side of the road, going god knows how fast. It was basically a disaster waiting to happen. It was crazy scary and I was sober and thankful to be alive when we finally arrived."
– foxfood9116
The human psyche is a fascinating thing, isn't it?
How we can automatically focus on something urgent at a crucial time, even after getting buzzed from drinking too much alcohol.
But as we're in the thick of the holidays, it's a good reminder to drink responsibly and stay off the roads if you drive to your celebratory destination.
Cheers. Stay safe. And happy holidays.
We've all complained or vented about something in our lives which, in the grand scheme of things, wasn't exactly a problem, or is very easily solved.
Then there are those who complain about things that others almost hope will happen to them at some point in their lives.
These are known as "first world problems", as they are problems that pretty much only the world's one percent faces.
From having to fly business class instead of first class, or being served Roederer instead of Dom Pérignon, these complaints are often met with amusement, bewilderment, or even anger.
Redditor jennimackenzie was curious to hear the most absurd "first world problems" anyone ever complained about, leading them to ask:
"What’s the most ridiculous 'first world problem' you’ve seen people get worked up over?"
"Tale As Old As Time..."
"I once knew a mom who was legitimately devastated, to the point of tears/grief, because a doctor predicted her 8 year old daughter's final height to be around 5'2","
"Which wasn't tall enough to get cast as Belle at Disney World."
"That was the child's (and her mother's) only dream in life, apparently."
"Didn't appreciate my suggestion that she could be Minnie or Mickey."
"Lol!"
"Only a face character would do!"- TravelLovingMom
"Must Be Funny, In A Rich Man's World..."
"My boss from about a decade ago was this insanely rich dude who always went to the bank to get fresh and crisp currency."
"He'd call the bank in advance to make sure they had some on hand."
"I think he was a germaphobe."
"He had a trash can that he'd throw $1 and $5 bills in that he thought was 'dirty' and regularly just donated it vs spending it."
"I asked him why he did this and he said it was too much trouble and asked if I wanted it."
"I said f*ck yeah dumped it into my bag and when I got home it was close to $400 in singles and fives.
"Another time, he wanted to upgrade all the computers in his studio, so we went to a store and bought 10 PCs."
"They all had $150 mail in rebates and he wasn't bothered to go through the trouble of mailing them in."
"3 weeks later I received $1500 after spending a whole afternoon filling out all those goddamn forms."- azninvasion2000
Money Burn GIF by nog
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Who Wore It Better?
"When I was about 19 years old, I was at my boyfriends family BBQ."
"I was wearing this pretty floral sundress."
"His cousins girlfriend showed up in the same dress and she was SO mad that she went and changed."
"I will never understand being upset when someone is wearing the same thing as you.'
"Did you really think that your shirt you bought off the rack is going to be unique to you?"
"No."- mertsey627
Seeing Red! Or Blue In This Case...
"The blue of the balloons wasn't quite the same as the bridesmaid's sashes."
"Years ago my wife and I attended a wedding."
"It was very low key."
"The dinner was in the dining hall at the university where the couple met, cinder block walls and all."
"It was a Baptist wedding - no booze and very serious."
"The dark blue balloons attempting to liven up the hall were a slightly darker shade of blue than the sashes on the bridesmaid's dresses."
"The bride lost here sh*t and absolutely raved for nearly an hour."
"I can't remember how they finally managed to talk her down."- mechant_papa
south park wedding GIF
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See You In Court!
"Rich neighbors who end up in expensive court battles because they disagree about where a tree can be planted or whether the color of a fence fits in with the street’s 'amenity'."
'These disputes get really heated and rack up huge lawyers’ bills."
"The most pathetic part is after the judgement when they are arguing about who should pay the other party’s costs."
"Lots of affidavits filed citing the 'emotional distress' they had to endure, or painting themselves as brave warriors who were forced to take a stand to fight for 'justice'."
"Also lots of pompous litigants insisting that the judge refer to them by their 'Dr' title."
"An absolutely insane dumpster fire of entitled rich people problems."- ElectrocRaisin
It's Always People With Money Who Don't Want To Pay!
"I work in a public library."
"People will get so so mad if they have to be put on a wait list for a book."
"A popular book that just came out."
"Ok our services are not only free but so are the books."
"You’re welcome, a**holes."- Switchbladekitten
A Warm Butt Is A Happy Butt!
"My own."
"We have a bidet toilet seat (Fabulous! Everyone should have one!) and not only does it wash your bum and blow dry it, but the seat's heated!"
"It's shocking how much a heated toilet seat makes the whole process more agreeable."
"Except: We had a power outage and I went to use the toilet and the seat was cold!"
"Unacceptable!"
"This shall not stand!"
"I was really upset because it didn't feel good."
"Then I stopped and thought: This is the most first-world problem anyone's ever had."
"I was really pissed because my heiny was tepid."
"I got over it."- DeathGrover
homer simpson episode 23 GIF
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Holy Matrimony!
"Weddings are a gold mine for this question."
"People get so hyped up over their 'most important day of their life'."
"They'll destroy friendships, go into debt, and have crazy expectations."
"It's not always the couple who go crazy, either."
"Sometimes, it's the parents or another family member who feels entitled to control the wedding."
"It's just a party."
"Be considerate of guests, have plenty of food and drinks, and enjoy it."- magicrowantree
When Fast Food Isn't Fast Enough...
"Having to pull off to the side to wait for a drive-thru order to be brought out to you because your food isn't ready and there's a line building up behind you."- demanbmore
In Case You Don't Think Customer Service Employees Are Undervalued...
"I was working the return desk at a Target next to a military base so I have so many stories."
"One of my favorites was a lady who had her baby shower before revealing the gender and was livid that she had received floral newborn diapers when she’s having a boy."
"It was a huge box of super expensive, all organic diapers, that we didn’t carry and therefore could not return."
"I cannot accurately express her fury and disgust."
"How dare either suggest her boy could wear feminine diapers."
"I suggested she donate them if she didn’t want to use them and she instead threw away the entire box."
"When she left we pulled it out and threw it in our donate bin."
"There have also been multiple times where mom’s order massive toys and when we bring them out to the car they get furious that they aren’t wrapped."
"We don’t offer wrapping services."
"Here’s the thing, if you don’t want your kids to see the toys you got them for Christmas or their bit to day DON'T BRING THE CHILD WHEN YOU PICK IT UP."
'I’ve had multiple women scream and curse me out that I had ruined their kids Christmas by bringing the toys they ordered out to the car like they requested."- clever-mermaid-mae
Customer Service Waiting GIF by Juno Calypso
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Happiest Place On Earth!
"I used to work for Disney."
"That in itself should tell you everything."
"However for fun I'll give you two specific stories one form our tech department and one from my wife who worked bookings."
"I specifically worked for their call center to help with technical issues with magic band and the website."
"Suddenly got worse huh?"
"A right of passage call everyone has at least one story of is the 'Dome call'."
"Basically there is a subset of Disney Guest (TM) that believes if it rains at Walt Disney world there is someone that will push a button to encapsulate the whole of Disney property in a dome to keep out the rain."
"I'm not kidding."
"If this button is not pushed they call our tech department to angrily ask why."
"My wife worked booking."
"Pretty much everything including Bibbidi Bobbidi boutique and Pirate's league."
"These two things did roughly the same thing difference being price and theme."
"BBB was expensive did more and was focused on princesses, pirates league did a bit less and focused on mermaids and pirates."
"Lady called up my wife, and got pissed about BBB being booked up (It goes FAAAAST)."
"Karen: 'Im going to give the phone to my daughter and I want you to tell her how you are ruining her vacation by not letting her do BBB'."
"Wife proceeds to explain how pirate's league is so much cooler and how she can be a mermaid or pirate and basically gets the kid to start demanding to their parents about how they want to be a mermaid instead of a princess."- trollsong
Disney World GIF
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The horror!
Being booked into a junior suite at Disney World instead of an executive suite!
It's almost as bad as having no money for groceries, or no food to feed you children...
Said absolutely no one.