We all have our fears. What might be soul-crushingly terrifying to one person is a casual romp to another. However, what we can all agree on is the feeling we have when we're afraid, as evidenced by these following stories.
Reddit user, u/az1mo, wanted to know the horrifying truth when they asked:
What is the scariest thing you have ever experienced?
Seeing It Was Probably The Worst
I once had my foot cut off in a car accident. The doctor reattached it. Lots of nerve damage.
I fall down occasionally. Most of the time I don't. I worry that at some point in my life it will be amputated. I fear the concept of ruining my body.
Who Knows What Evil Lurks...?
GiphyAmphetamine induced psychosis. I spent a period of time addicted to crystal meth, and the psychosis one goes through after having not slept for days at a time is scary.
You see "shadow people." You believe everyone is out to get you. Every conversation out of your earshot is about you. Your delusions become very real. At one point I though there were leprechauns that were out to kill me. I saw the leprechauns. I heard them whispering and plotting against me. It's insane. I'm so glad that's in the past!
A Close Call With The Ocean
Got caught in a riptide 200 yards of shore with all of my family, including my at the time 6 year old little sister. We all made it out fine except my dad. He was so exhausted from carrying my sister that he was barely able to stay afloat, they had to send a rescue crew to get him. We all made it out alive, thank God
An Awful Situation Where People Watch
Probably the aftermath of a grand mal/tonic-clonic seizure in which I fractured a vertebra. I woke up on the ground with two strangers over me while I was in the worst pain I had ever experienced and I didn't know where I was or who these people were (turned out to be EMTs) or why I was in too much pain to move.
They kept asking really simple questions and I just didn't know the answers which freaked me out more. It was May and they asked what month it was. I thought really hard and didn't know and I looked outside and thought it looked like August and gave that as my guess. They asked where I was. I didn't know that either; it turned out to be my living room.
My girlfriend was also right there, having called the ambulance. They asked me my girlfriend's name. I said I didn't have a girlfriend. This was a very different form of negative emotion, I feel so guilty about that even though there was nothing I could have done about it. I also feel guilty about having had a seizure in front of her because it scared the sh-t out of her.
Feel. The. Burn.
I pour steel in a foundry.
I've had a mold blow up on my legs causing 3rd degree burns down my legs.
Still dealing with aftercare now about it.
Hearing The Oncoming Strike
My wife was stationed in Hawaii when they had the false incoming missile warning.
I was not.
She called me and we basically said our goodbyes. Then she lost phone service. I thought that was it. She called me back only a few seconds later, but it seemed like an eternity.
Hear It Before You See It
Hearing a car crash right outside my apartment.
Afterwards hearing blood curdling screams of pain from the guy that was injured.
That sh-t was too real. All the people gathering outside to watch and make sure someone called an ambulance.
...Probably Time To Get Out Of Here
GiphyOne day me and a friend were playing in the woods. We spent a good 3-4 hours there because it was sunny and a day before Christmas Eve
I realized I forgot something there the next day. It's now Christmas Eve, and it snowed a whole inch over night. As I'm walking to the spot where we were. I noticed that someone set up (in a previously trashed area that someone probably camped in) 5 expensive foldable chairs in a semi circle with a ladder and a noose in the middle.
I bolted out of there because if someone is crazy enough to set that up in the middle of the night when it's snowing on Christmas Eve, then they might have still been there waiting for someone
Unable To Do A Thing
My wife and I had already lost twins @ 8 weeks and a daughter at 20 weeks and suffered under years of infertility.
We had twins - they came early. Neither one was breathing, and my wife's BP was critically dropping. As a father in the ER, I had 3 of the people I loved most in this world in severe medical distress, and I had no idea what to do for any of the three. I was useless, in the way and paralyzed with fear about what was going to happen. I have never felt so helpless in my entire life.
What's the most terrifying thing you've ever suffered through? Let us know about it!
Redditor imboredaa wanted to discuss all the ways so many of us get lost watching things on the internet, so they asked:
"What are some of the craziest/strangest rabbit holes you’ve ever been down?"
I constantly get lost on talent show audition rabbit holes.
And I am proud!
Restored
Serial Killer Chainsaw GIF by Rise RecordsGiphy"YouTube videos of old chainsaw restorations. No idea why, but I guess that’s why it’s a rabbit hole. I don’t even own a chainsaw or have a need for one."
aretelio
'rooms/shared'
"I really enjoy going on a city’s Craigslist, then to 'rooms/shared' (or whatever it is for finding a room mate) and then typing words like 'warning' or 'beware' in the search to see what kind of horror show nightmare room mate scenarios people have decided to write about... it's usually some juicy headline like 'warning!!!'"
"Do NOT rent from this woman!!!! She is a PSYCHO!!….'"
"And after reading it, it’s always a guess to decide who is the actual crazy person, the landlord or tenant. Could be a bitter ex, tenant, or a scam, or whatever. But it’s an easy way to dive quick into some weird corners of the internet that are filled with drama."
After the Ice
"I spent a bunch of time about 12 years or so ago reading about all the details of the Titanic, how it sunk, what happened as it was sinking, who died, who survived. I got into the life stories of the people who died, and what became of the people who survived. And then I very nearly bought a piece of carpet from the Titanic."
SweetCosmicPope
Expeditions
"Andrée's Arctic balloon expedition"
"Dumb, then numb, a** thought he could fly a balloon to the North Pole. They had cyanide capsules and all, in case they crashed and were about to freeze to death. Or get eaten by a polar bear during a three month night. He and his assistants somehow managed to do both."
"Plot twist: Andree, the worst captain of all time, noticed the balloon was leaking the night before they were about to leave, pumped it up a bit, and said 'f**k it that'll do.' It did not do."
Needydadthrowaway
Thanks John
"An Uncle John's Bathroom Reader. Started with 1 and ended up with a 20+ collection."
originalsanitizer
"Uncle John's Bathroom Readers are so addictive."
evanman69
Toilet time can be knowledge time.
Living Sky High
City In The Sky Vfx GIF by PBSGiphy"Turning old planes into houses! About 10 years ago I found a company that would do it for you. The wings were decks and the plane was mounted to a pedestal that allowed it to be rotate with the sun!"
BeeEyeAm
Doggerland
"Mega tsunamis. Thousand foot walls of water moving at hundreds of mph? It happens more than you would think. The Azore-Gibraltar fault will cause one one day. There evidence they happened a few times in the Pacific. It doesn't take a meteor to happen, it could be an underwater landslide (Doggerland), or a large section of a volcanic island shearing off and falling into the ocean (Oahu). Doggerland is another rabbit hole that is worth googling."
KD_Burner_Account133
Hitting the Keys
"Mechanical keyboards. I wanted to buy one, so I started researching and watching videos of reviews. I went deeper and deeper, seeing special cables, obscure companies, the tons of switches, etc etc."
"I stopped when a Youtuber I watched made a video asking her viewers and discord users to stop bullying and harassing her for using some kind of switches or keycaps. I bought my keyboard and never went back to that crazy fandom."
NirvanaForce
In the Sky
"I worked in administration at an aviation academy for a few years and decided I’d start listening to aviation podcasts since I didn’t know much about it. I came across a plane crash podcast that talks about crashes in history and how it improved the safety of flying."
"I was fascinated by it, and found myself gradually needing to know more and listening to more of the same type of podcasts, watching videos, and listening to black box recordings. It was eerie but interesting at the time. Now, I regret it tremendously because since then I’ve developed horrible anxiety when flying."
contagiousphrase
The Big Questions
steve harvey lol GIF by TV Land ClassicGiphy"Spent a lot of time in the 'quantum consciousness' rabbit hole. I had just deconstructed from religion and wanted answers about life, death, and reality. It was long before I made peace with not knowing. I spent around a year obsessed with quantum experiments, psychedelics, and the general philosophy of consciousness."
excusetheblood
Lives (and chores) can be put on serious hold when you find a juicy enough topic to research!
Well, what rabbit holes have you gotten lost in? Let us know in the comments below.
Redditor Who_Did_You_Expect1 wanted to hear about the things from our memories that still haunt our nightmares, so they asked:
"What's the most f--ked up thing you saw that still haunts you to this day?"
Living through peril is unimaginable. I've been luckier than most.
Tragic
Sad Best Friends GIF by Lisa VertudachesGiphy"I watched cancer kill my baby brother. He was in grade school when I was in college. 25 years, and I still see it in my dreams."
TheDigitalRanger
Ay Dios mio, Dios mio!
"When I was about 8, my sister and I were walking with my mom to a bus stop to see my grandma in Mexico city. There was a lady on a bike crossing the intersection that we had just crossed ourselves but she didn't stop in time to the next one and didn't look both ways, she didn't have time to stop her bike. All I remember is the lady making the beginning of a scream as a white old muscle car ran over her (bike and all) at a high speed."
" remember the sound it made as it broke everywhere. My mother took her sweater off as she screamed and covered both my sister's and my head from looking, but it was too late. I remember looking at my sister with tears in her eyes, and I was too shocked to react or comprehend what I had just seen happened. A lot of people immediately surrounded the place, and the driver came out of his car and held his head with his hands after seeing the lady on the pavement."
"I didn't look at the lady anymore. I remember hearing people screaming in shock. My mother told my dad later as she cried. I remember hearing her wake up screaming for weeks after this saying: ay Dios mio, Dios mio! Still makes my heart race when I think about it."
amahied
I Quit
"I was a news photographer for a while in the 90’s. I got called out to an accident. A high school girl ran into the back of a semi. As I was shooting, I noticed her wallet was on the ground. It had a plastic picture holder and the wind was flipping back and forth. I saw her prom pictures and shots of her with her family."
"I quit being a news photographer shortly after. I never forgot that day, and it still haunts me."
No_Confusion4720
Images
"I saw the aftermath rather than the actual event. A woman was walking home from the grocery store late at night. She crossed the road without using the crosswalks and got hit by an SUV. The two images cemented in my mind are of her, embedded in the windshield, and the driver of the car standing a little ways down the street vomiting. I've never seen someone look so utterly broken as the way the driver looked. I can't imagine what he was going through."
GrowlyBear2
Everyday
Sad Rabbit GIF by Muffin & NutsGiphy"When I was 16 I was in a car wreck with my best friend since 3rd grade. I pulled him from the car with a broken shoulder while he was bloody, lifeless, limp. He died within the hour, not long after the ambulance got us. It’s been 18 years and I still think about it every single day."
oil_can_guster
I couldn't imagine living with that.
I also couldn't move...
"Coming to after getting hit by a vehicle as a pedestrian. Was face down, all I could see was blood soaked road and thought 'f**k, that doesn't look good.' I also couldn't move. The last thing I remember seeing before that was the grill of the vehicle. I still get jumpy when I catch a vehicles grill out of the corner of my eye and I'm not expecting it to be there."
"I'd seen a lot of accidents prior to that, but something about it being my own blood hit different."
"And yes, I had the right of way and was crossing in the proper place, at the proper time. Driver plain a** wasn't paying attention. It was daylight to boot, so no reason they couldn't see me."
Sweet_Force1478
Bad Dreams
"I was volunteering with my k9 working with NYC emergency services and chief Patell during 911 WTC attacks. We were in the middle of where the twin towers used to stand The thick gray dust, horrible smell of burnt things and dead people was all around but when the dogs started to find bodies and body parts it really freaked me out and I will forever live with this reality that seems like a bad dream."
DjCanicus
Missing
Confused Wile E Coyote GIF by Looney TunesGiphy"A family of four that had burned in a plane crash. I used to do a woodland search and rescue, and we saw a lot of wild crap, but I still have dreams about what I saw when we went to look for a missing plane."
JalenTargaryen
Goodness life is dark sometimes.
Do you have any similar experiences? Let us know in the comments below.
