
As a race, humans are inherently skeptical.
We are loath to believe that there is any interaction with the afterlife or of spirits roaming the earth. But sometimes something happens that is so undeniable that we have no choice but to acknowledge the possibility.
u/RyanBlitzpatrick asked:
[Serious] What's your ghost story?
Here were some of the answers.
Well Dressed
I was around 10 years old and living in San Antonio. I got back to the apartment first after school. About 5 mins of being in the place alone I saw on the reflection of a mirror an older man in a tuxedo was in the kitchen. I flipped out and ran to my room and grabbed a bat. I waited 10ish minutes before coming out. I locked the door when I got home and never heard the door open for someone to leave. I didnt tell anyone about it Fast forward 6 years. I was watching Ghost Hunters with my family and my Mom asked if I remember the old man in the tux. Crazy stuff.
Energy
I'm Cambodian-American, born and raised in America, never been to Cambodia. This takes place in California.
My mom believes in good spirits and getting blessings for good luck and protection by putting out food offerings for them on our dining table. My mom does this for special days and after she's done with her prayers that's when anyone can eat the food. She usually does it in the morning and then by the afternoon that's when food is free for the taking.
So it's a typical afternoon, I was online on my laptop in my room and I got hungry. My room was connected to a small hallway and at the end of the hallway is the living room and the dining table. So I opened my door and stepped out into the hallway and I saw something on top of the table eating. It was hard to make out at first because I'm nearsighted and this thing was kinda transparent. I got closer and stopped halfway through the hallway and I realized.. there was a literal transparent brown monkey on the table. It was making motions as if it was eating some of the fruit offerings. It didn't notice me yet and in my disbelief I got even closer, but when I stopped in my tracks again right at the end of the hallway, it noticed me and got startled. I'm startled, the monkey's startled, and I'm just standing there and not believing my eyes. Very quickly, this transparent monkey just jumps off the table and ambles off hastily towards the exit where the outer door is locked.
That's it, I just stood there staring at the door where it fled and I'm just like... wow I really can't believe what I just saw. In American horror movies and scary stories, there's hardly anything about ghost monkeys. I don't consume that kind of content... and ghost monkey?? Who'd have thunk it.
Anyway later on I told my mom about what I saw and she didn't even blink. I might as well have told her that the sky is blue, I'm her daughter, etc. She really believes in spirits that much and didn't doubt my story at all. Also years later I told one of my coworkers (who is also Cambodian around my age, speaks fluently, and has also been to Cambodia) about my experience. He said that there's a lot of monkeys in Cambodia. I didn't know this at all and have never seen a monkey irl. My mom doesn't talk about monkeys and owns nothing related to monkeys. So that's my story. Neither me nor a ghost monkey expected to be spooked that day lol.
A World Within A Mirror
I stayed at my grandmother's house that my father spent a large amount of time in as a kid. My father drove us there in one go and was understandably tired after a 17-hour drive. We all started to lay down and my father checked in on us before going to bed himself. As he was talking he talking, he stop himself and told us to cover a large mirror "or you will have nightmares". Now, nightmares from a mirror of all things sounded like a little fun to me, but my brothers, who were also sleeping in the same room, ask me to cover it. I did. I asked my Dad about it before he left and he said ghosts use it as an entryway. A week later, I brought it up with my grandmother and she scoffed saying, "oh, this house ain't haunted". I agreed, but told her that the reason I brought it up was because my Dad told me to cover a mirror. My grandmother then changed her expression and said, "OH, the mirror?"
Apparently, that mirror came from her grandmother. She worked as a nurse and took in those who were going to die, but could not pay for care on their last days. So, she made her home into a hospice. Those who stayed in the room with the mirror, saw things. A lovely old lady saw and heard a young lady come into her room and played a harp. She was thankful for the lovely songs, but no person was known nor was a harp owned or heard elsewhere. A young boy found an older boy who played games with him and "really knew his games". Lastly, a terrible woman (refused to use the bathroom and shat in a cooking pot then hid it under her bed and well as argue/issued everyone daily) saw, and this is her words, "The devil" that spat fire at her. (The police were called and she tried to accuse the nurse of trying to kill her with the devil) I also got stories from my mother seeing the same young lady who played the harp (without her harp that time) and my grandfather seeing the "devil" guy. My grandfather described it as a red man with horns that was too tall for the room he was in so he, still standing up straight, bent his neck down to fit. It stared down at him and simply asked, slowly, "WHY. ARE. YOU. HERE?" I kept that mirror covered.
The Light Game
From the time I was about 12-17 years old I lived in what I believe was a haunted house. I've never had experiences like I had in that house since moving out. A few specific memories come to mind. Once I was hanging up laundry in my closet. I heard someone whisper my name in my ear, clear as day. I'd never sprinted out of a room so fast.
Another time my sister and I had friends over and we decided to use a tape recorded to ask questions to the ghosts like they do on those paranormal shows. We played the tape not expecting to hear anything and could hear a very soft voice say "I'm in the closet". We were sitting near a small closet in the basement.
My parents eventually decided to sell the house. We moved into a new place before selling this place. My sister stopped by the house after there had been a couple of showings to turn out the lights in the house. She went to turn off the lights in the basement which had multiple light switches. One was at the far end of the basement away from the stairs. She turned off the light and swears she heard heavy footfalls of someone running towards her. She ran out of the house without turning out the rest of the lights and locked the door. That was the last time either of us went back until we were in the neighborhood and the new owners offered to show us the renovations they made. Nothing happened then but they did ask us if we wanted to babysit their kids. We politely declined.
A Call Back
My Dad's story, not mine. Early 1980's he is working a summer job at Yellowstone National Park (Wyoming). One day he and his friend Mark hiked up to the top of one of the mountains. They set up their tent inside an "Indian Pit", a man-made hole dug out by Native Americans hundreds of years ago. The Indian Pit's were either used as hunting blinds, or spots where young braves came to for their vision quest.
Late in the night my Dad wakes up and has to use the bathroom (#1). He crawled out of the tent, out of the Pit, and went walking a respectable distance away from the tent. Suddenly he felt a hand on his shoulder pull him backwards. My Dad calls out, "Hey Mark, what are you doing?". He turns around, turns on his flashlight, and there is nobody there. He shines the light at his feet, and discovers that his next couple steps would have taken him directly over a steep cliff. He did his business and hurried back to the tent.
The next morning the two friends are waking up and his buddy says to him, "I know this sounds crazy, but I woke up in the middle of the night and I swear to you, there was an Indian man standing outside our tent". Whatever really happened that night, my Dad is alive, he met my Mom in Yellowstone, and here I am writing this story to you today.
The Best Questions To Ask During A Job Interview | George Takei’s Oh Myyy
Never Seen That Tech Before
This is my moms story, but she is completely sane and I believe it. My parents went to South Carolina for a wedding. They stayed at some old plantation bed and breakfast spot. She was sleeping when she woke up all of a sudden. She had her cellphone plugged into the wall and was on her nightstand. There was a notification on the phone so it was blinking. The female "ghost" was dressed in a full on old formal dress and she was fixated on the cellphone blinking light and was walking toward it. My mom said "it's ok, it's just a phone". The ghost turned and made eye contact with my mom, then disappeared.
Through The Fog
Years ago two friends and I were camping in fall in a small tent, staggered with two of our heads on one side and one on the other. It was a silent and still night with fog developing in the moist PNW woods.
What sounds like a muffled voice on a cell phone starts coming out from the center of the tent between all our heads. I heard someone keep asking "Hello? Can you hear me? Hello?" My friend asks "Are you hearing that?" At once we all sit up and start shuffling around in the tent looking for the phone. There is no phone in the tent.
I look to my friend on the other side of the tent and ask what they heard. "It sounded like someone saying 'Hello? Can you hear me?'" We all agree this is what we heard, and that the sound was coming from the other side of the tent.
The next morning we find all our cell phones sitting in the car still, and there's no cell reception at the campground. Still sends shivers up my spine.
Walking Through The House
I used to sell HVAC in Michigan, during college. There was this really awesome old dude that called for new high efficiency furnace in his historic home in Depot Town (near Ann Arbor).
As I'm putting together the quote, we get to talking about the home and it's history. He tells me that it was part of the underground railroad and had a tunnel that led down to the train station (only about 500 yards away).
I'll be honest, I was more focused on the sale than all the details he was laying out about the house. But one thing that made my ears perk up was the 'people that lived with him'. He tells me about a few, but the one that stuck out was he said that there was a lady that was so fascinated with electricity that she would turn random lights on at random times.
As I printing out the quote and going over the details and payment options with him, the light behind me turns on. Then the one across the room. Then the one in the kitchen. Then the one in the hallway. I just kinda got quiet and sunk a little in the seat. Then the old dude raised his voice and said something like 'okay, that's enough for today, sweetheart. We can do it again tomorrow.'
To this day, I don't know if the old dude was just having some fun with me or it was real.
Side note: I closed the sale and the install team said there wasn't anything too wonky or out of the norm with his electricity.
Blink Blink
When I was in 5th grade once I forgot to put my school uniform in the laundry basket, so the next day I need it for school it was dirty. I went to have breakfast in my pajamas while I was thinking how to tell my mom I didn't have my uniform clean.
When I came back to my room there was a woman I have never see before, (in her 40s, brown dress, dark hair) ironing my uniform.
I blinked and she was gone. I would have assume I hallucinated the whole thing, but my uniform was there, clean, dried and ironed and ready for me to use.
And it couldn't have been ironed by anyone else because my parents had breakfast with me and my sister was a baby
Glow
This one time when I was little I was laying in bed with my right ear buried in my pillow. I am suddenly jolted awake by this roar that sounded like it was going directly into my right ear. I woke up startled and confused and began scanning my room for anything as my mind was almost full panic mode. When I looked to my right I saw this little boy standing next to me; he was glowing blue but that wasn't the first thing I noticed about him actually. He looked sad and I remember feeling bad for him. After a minute I tried to lean closer to him and even muttered out a faint "hey" but as I did he disappeared. A few days later I told this story to my mother who then informed me that the people who owned the house before us had a son who did when he was five in a car accident. However, it wasn't near the house. I should also note now that our house was renovated since we moved in and a second floor was added. My current theory is that the boy finally found his way back home and realized that his old home was gone. He came to me because I was the new boy of the house.
It's highly believed that it is important to learn history as a means to improve our future.
What is often overlooked is that what is taught in history class is going to be very different depending on where you went to school.
And this isn't just internationally, even different regions of the United states will likely have very different lessons on American history.
This frequently results in our learning fascinating, heartbreaking and horrifying historical facts which our middle or high school history teachers neglected to teach us.
Redditor Acherontia_atropos91 was curious to learn things people either wished they had learned, or believe they should have learned, in their school history class, leading them to ask:
What isn’t taught in history class but should be?
The Irish Troubles
"The troubles."
"Too many people in America do not understand why a wall straight through Ireland would be a BAD idea."
"I’m referring to the Brexit referendum and possible outcomes."
"If people were wondering why we were talking about walls through Ireland in the first place."- CLCVS.
Forgotten elements of World War II
"What the Japanese did to the Chinese during WW2."
"Unit 731."- CaptainMcBoogerJew.
"Japan gets off easy for their war crimes in WW2."
"They killed an estimated 16mil Chinese civilians and another 8mil soldiers"
"Also, Pol Pot."
"Didn't know who he was until I was like 25."
"Worst dictator all time (in terms of percentage of population he decimated)".
The truth about the American Revolution
"That the American Revolution was part of a wider cold war type of conflict with France."
"The American Revolution was basically the UK's equivalent of the US version of Vietnam."- vinsant7.
The Dark side of Swedish history.
"As a Swede, I'd like to know more of all the horrible sh*t my country has done throughout history."
"It's a damn shame we're trying to hide our history."
"For example, Swedes killed a metric sh*t ton of all Polish people when we were at our strongest."
"That's the kinda sh*t we don't get to learn."- mogwandayy.
Colonization
"Basically what Belgium did to the Congo."
"A lot of people are telling me that they are taught about this actually."
"I'm glad to hear it because I wasn't taught about this in the USA during my public school days (1995-2008)."- EconArch.
The truth about "heroes".
"While teaching about historical Heroes they should also tell students about the unspeakable things some of them did."
"Many famous figures throughout history who are pillars of morality actually did many terrible things." - User Deleted
Intolerance for Mental Illness
"The dark history of mental illness treatments."
"I think it's worth learning about."- 7dayexcerpt.
Slavic Mythology
"Slavic mythology in Slavic countries."
"Don't get me wrong, I love both Greek & Roman mythology and as a person from the Balkans both of those cultures are part of my country's history and had great influence over not only my region but the entirety of the continent & the western world but I wouldn't mind knowing more about Slavic mythology as well."- ShorsShezzarine.
The truth about the CIA
"How the CIA was made and all the shady things they did over the years."- ALargeChip.
There is a lot about the history of our world, not to mention our own country which shouldn't be ignored.
And it's from learning from our mistakes that we really improve our future.
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So apparently we are in the endemic phase of this nonsense.
We have light at the end of the tunnel.
So what now?
Where do we go from here?
Normal seems like an outdated word.
How do we get back to normal though?
Is it even possible?
What are reaching back to?
Life pre-Covid.
Those were the days.
If only we could bring them back.
Redditor hetravelingsong wanted to discuss our new normal in this hopeful "endemic" phase. So they asked:
"What’s something random you miss about pre-COVID times?"
I miss people being sane. Though that maybe election cycle issues not COVID. We'll never know.
I thought I was Alone...
"Being able to grocery shop after 11 pm."
Reading_Rainboner
"Hell yes. I miss the days where the Walmart across the street was open 24 hours."
Small_Tax_9432
let's just go...
"I miss spontaneity... everything now seems to have a barrier of difficulty."
iidosee
"I live very close to Disneyland so I have an annual pass. My friends and I would just go there after work and hang out and grab a bite to eat."
"Now, we have to reserve a day to go. And most of the time, the days are at 'full' capacity so we couldn't even reserve. I don't want to schedule to hang out at Disneyland for a couple hours for July. So yeah, I definitely miss the 'lets go eat at Disneyland tonight?' texts."
mymymissmai
Not til 24-25
"Functioning global supply chains. Ah, the product you want has got microchips in it? 9 month wait."
richard-king
"Minimum, I'd been saying for a while now that I wouldn't expect a true return to normalcy in terms of electronics prices till 2024-2025. Although Crypto crashing through the floor really took some of the pressure off graphics cards which I really appreciate."
statiiic
WTF?!?!
"How affordable everything was!"
Disastrous_Hour_6776
"Yep. Today I was bagging up my things at the grocery store and I heard the cashier say to the lady behind me 'thats $78.12.' She had -- 2 boxes of Kellogg's corn flakes, a carton of 12 eggs, milk, strawberries, raspberries, blue berries, a small cheese cake, English muffins, coffee, and a small whole frozen chicken that could maybe feed 3 people if the meat portioning was small."
SnowyInuk
Sushi
"My favorite sushi place. It was good quality, close by, kid-friendly, and not too expensive."
InannasPocket
All of this... it was a simpler time.
NASTY
"As a retail worker, just how f**king NASTY some people have gotten."
DmitriPetrov*itch
"They applauded you for being an essential worker but won’t vote for policies that’ll raise minimum wage while insisting a wage cap for heavily paid employees."
sketchysketchist
CHANGES your DNA...
"Some of the people closest to me became very bitter and petty over the last 2 years. So many people have the 'crazy eyes' now."
__--__7
"So true and holidays with the family is like who has the biggest tinfoil hat building contest. How many jumps does your brain have to go through to think that the Covid vaccine CHANGES your DNA into the patented DNA so that the government now controls your body."
"So like vaccinated people now have a singular DNA set. I feel like I still have a chunk of my brain just broken off due to that comment alone. I was also told by same family member that I could never donate blood again due to the vaccine. I guess it is so my patented DNA doesn't affect people?? FYI my vaccinated butt just donated today fine and multiple other times after the vaccine."
tyreka13
Homeward Bound
"House prices."
adrianinked
"I'm resigned to never thinking I have a chance on owning property where I live. I'm 30 and just can't imagine it anymore. And I don't want to live anywhere else so, whatever."
Osdab2daf
"That didn’t happen because of the pandemic. That was already happening regardless."
CH11DW
Oh Mickey
"All Day Breakfast at McDonalds."
hutch2522
"It was honestly hell to do, and not very popular. ITs margins aren't anywhere dinner and lunch specials. ON top of that, the temperatures are such that They require its own grill, meaning that if you have 2 grills in shop, you are down 50% of lunch capacity."
Freyas_Follower
Way back when...
"Hanging out with friends. And I mean waaaaaay before Covid. Like 2006 back when I had some friends."
LoocsinatasYT
I miss the old days. Maybe we'll get back there.
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What do you believe?
Is there a GOD in the sky?
Is he guiding us and helping us?
Life is really hard. Why is that is a big entity is up there loving us?
Atheists have taken a lot of heat for what feels like shunning GOD.
What if they've been right all along?
Maybe let's take a listen and see what they really think.
Redditor __Jacob______ wanted to hear from the people who don't really believe all that "God" stuff. They asked:
"Atheists, what do you believe in?"
I'm waffling between G-O-D and nothing. So please give me some education.
911
"We need to look out for each other because help isn't coming."
cknipe
Peace Out
"More than 2 decades ago, a priest was giving a sermon in my church and he said 'our faith requires you to believe without question. Why call it faith if you have to ask questions?' I haven't returned to church. Not until my wedding day but you know what I mean."
asiangontear
Delusion
"When I was young I used to think that after death you would have access to a PC that you could see absolutely anything about your life. Stats, any question you had no matter how obscure, replays of moments, perspectives of others in relation to you. No matter what you wanted to know, if it was relatable to you, you could see it. I know it's silly, but as time goes on I just want it to be real, and I don't think I'd have any issue allowing myself to fall into that delusion."
eggwardpenisglands
I think nothing happens...
"Realistically, I think nothing happens. We literally experience nothing after death. Same thing that we experience before birth. We don't exist, so it's nothing. I think the tenant that we should follow while living is to try to be happy and healthy while minimizing the damage we do to each other."
"What I would LIKE to happen after death is whatever you believe in, exists. I think Christians should get to go to heaven if they truly believe in it, Hindus and Buddhists get reincarnated, and everyone else also gets to experience what they believe they will experience."
"'I would still experience Nothing. Maybe it's one of those things where at the moment of death their brain makes them experience what feels like an infinitely long moment in time where they experience their afterlife. I just think it would be neat for everybody."
Better_Meat_
Shrug
"Best advice I received from a dear senior on their way out. 'You win some, you lose some' shrug. Nothing divine, life is that simple and wonderful, accept it and move on."
Tune_Kindly
It all sounds pretty simple. Why are people so up in arms about Atheists?
Whatever
"I believe in a universe that doesn't care, and people that do."
imCIK
Cool with Empty
"Nothing. [Serious]."
rumblingtummy29
"I feel this way about death. When I was 5, my grandfather died and my cousin simple said, he is dead, that means you are gone forever. Everything ends up dying, even plants and animals. I'm now in my 40's and still have this simplistic view of life and death. People think I'm ambivalent to life and death but it's just what it is."
thepigfish82
puppet-masters...
"I think a lot of religious people struggle with the fact that we are all just swirling units of chaos. There is no grand plan or great orchestrator. I think that’s why people who are prone to religion are also susceptible to things like Q anon and the Cabal and all that. They REALLY want to believe that there is some almighty puppet-master who determines all of humanity’s fate."
Lngtmelrker
“we’re living in a society!”
"Just be a kind and empathetic person not because you’re worried about some cosmic justice, but because it’s the right thing to do. If there is some being that created us there’s no way they actually care about believing in it or adhering to some rules from over 2000 years ago."
"Also a big thing for me is that I find the idea that you need religion or the Bible in order to have morals and ethics pretty dumb. It’s pretty f**king clear that most evangelicals have neither. But my main thing is being a good person simply because, as George Costanza once said we’re living in a society!' If you’re only a good person in order to make it to heaven you probably aren’t actually a good and moral person."
conservative_genius
That's All
"You're born. You live. You die. That's it. After you die you cease to exist, the same as before you were born."
serefina
Believe what you want. We're all here together. So let's focus there.
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The list of what irritates me is endless.
I mean... breathing too loud or dust can set me off.
I'm a bit unstable, yes.
But I'm not alone.
So let's discuss.
Redditor Aburntbagel6 wanted to hear about all the times many of us just couldn't control our disdain. They asked:
"What never fails to piss you off?"
I feel like this article can go on forever. Let's get some highlights.
Wasted Time
"Meetings that could and should have been an email."
Sirena609
Lotto People
"Getting stuck behind people playing the lottery at a corner store."
thenuggetlover
"I also used to work in a gas station and you’re SO right. I f**king hated the lottery people. Especially since my store had a small staff and there was usually only one of us working at a time, which meant that I couldn’t get any of my other work done as long as they were there."
"And you’re right, it’s also pretty sad to watch. I had one lady who used to come in every day and spent hundreds and HUNDREDS of dollars on scratch tickets. One day, she won $200 after spending probably around $600 and she was so excited and saying she can 'finally pay her bills.'"
i-am-your-god-now
Aware...
"No situational awareness. Job, home, shopping, driving. Think for one minute and go about. OBSERVE!!"
Dizzy-Foundation8122
"My mom is one of those people who leave the shopping cart in the middle of the damn aisle and proceed to walk twenty feet away. After correcting her a million times to no effect I just walk away now so people don’t know I’m with her."
OutrageousEvent
Shut Up!
"Endless barking in the middle of the night, I love animals but that sh*t I can't stand."
Acceptable-Lemon2924
"Endless barking in general drives me up a wall. One of my friends dogs was barking almost an entire gaming session the other day. I wanted to reach through the computer and smack him for letting it go on."
bangersnmash13
Kindness
"People being mean to service workers, especially if the workers are very young."'
scaryboilednoodles
All of these things. I hate them all.
Admit It
"People who never accept fault when they mess something up. Like, why blame a million people when it was clearly you who did it???"
Quirky-Area-8978
From Above
"My upstairs neighbors."
lutzow89
"I had terrible neighbors at my previous apartment. It was a one person studio for students, but her boyfriend was clearly living with her illegally and he was loud."
"One night we knocked n the door at 3 AM because of the loud music and an unknown girl opened the door. I just thought they were having a little party. But the next door I saw the girl living there come home with a suitcase after having been away for the weekend... Her BF was cheating on her in her own apartment."
Th3_Accountant
Move Away
"People who sit directly next to me at the airport, movie theater, any other place where you can choose a seat when there is PLENTY of other seating."
BacardiPardy33
"I can’t YES this enough and the ones who can’t park for crap so they park so close you can’t open doors on one side of the car or the ones who park directly behind when you pulled through so the door won’t open to load groceries."
BacardiPardy33
It's Over
"People who try to restart old drama. Like I'm done with you, just leave me alone."
Tired_Potatos
"Yep, half the reason I've basically quit playing one of my favorite online video games. People keep bringing old crap up or sh*tting on on someone who used to be our friend. I got tired of it so I just ejected the game out of me."
CaucasianHumus
AHHHHH!!!
"People walking too slow in front of me with no way to get around them. It’s even worse if it’s a couple or group taking up the whole sidewalk. HAVE SOME SPATIAL AWARENESS FOR THE LOVE OF GOD!!"
_-v0x-_
Life in general pisses me off. I'm easy.
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