
When I was 18, my brother and I drove out to a bridge that everyone in my hometown insists is haunted. I turned around to grab my phone from the backseat when I heard my brother cry out. To this day, he insists he saw a ghostly figure standing in front of him. I didn’t see it, but it’s still the scariest true story I know.
The world is full of scary things. Some of these things are supernatural. More often, they’re heartbreaking. Whatever the case, everyone has that one scary, true story to tell.
Redditors certainly do, and they were more than happy to share when Redditor Littel_Chubb asked:
"What the scariest true story you know?"
Reanimation
"My dad worked in a morgue in during college in the 60’s. One time on the night shift he was training a recent hire who was wheeling a body down the hallway. The body was under a sheet but all of a sudden started to sit up. The guy immediately freaked out, ran out the doors and quit."
"Apparently a dead body can have muscle contractions in the abs causing it to start sitting up. The more you know I guess"
– PJammas41
"My uncle was a mortician. Once a body reached up to slap him when he started the embalming process. Same thing - just a muscle contraction, but it freaked him out."
– jhope71
A Shattered Worldview
"I grew up in a funeral home. I helped out in the office. When I was about 15, we got a call from a man whose wife and infant baby had been murdered in cold blood."
"There were very few clues. It made headlines. Cops set up surveillance at the viewing. It was heartbreaking, as the mother was holding the baby in her arms."
"I was asked to take the flower cards and periodically get the husband and ask if he recognized the names. I then photocopied them and put them back. I did it because I was a “kid,” people knew me, and I was unobtrusive."
"I talked to the husband quite a bit. He seemed devastated and shaken."
"The cops told me they had an eyewitness to someone leaving the house the day of the murder."
"The witness was a three year old girl. She recognized the man leaving. It was the husbands best friend."
"Turns out that the friend and the husband had made a pact to kill each other’s families and run off with their secretaries. The little girl identified the friend, and I guess one of them cracked."
"They both went to jail on multiple counts, all on the testimony of a three year old."
"I still cannot believe to this day that that man stood right beside me, multiple times, and I had NO CLUE."
"I don’t think I ever looked at life the same way after that."
– RareBeautyEtsy
Truly Man's Best Friend
"My great aunt woke up in the middle of the night, she heard her dog making these low growls. She was single at the time and living alone in her ranch style home. She walked out to her living room to check things out. She didn’t see or hear anything out of the ordinary, so she decided to make sure her door and front windows were locked. Door was locked, first window she checked was locked. When she lifted the mini blind on the second window, it was wide open and a guy in a ski mask was standing there. She said he laughed this evil laugh and said “party time” then he started to climb in. She screamed that she had a gun, her dog started barking his head off. My aunt did get a gun after that and learned how to use it."
"I can’t even think about what would’ve happened to her if she didn’t have her dog to warn her :( "
– belai437
Never Truly Know Anyone
"I lived next to a murderer. Faye Swetlik was 6 years old when she was kidnapped out of her front yard. It was all over the news. I had news crews, cops, even the FBI all over my townhouse complex. My fiancée and I met with the FBI 3 times. They searched our home and everything. I remember clear as day, my fiancée FaceTimed me as the cops were digging through the trash cans directly in front of my townhouse. They pulled out her boot and a bloody knife. Then they found her body, dumped maybe 300 feet from my house. He had watched them find the murder weapon. Dumb*ss put it in a trash bag along with his other mail. He went to his back porch and opened his own throat. It’s crazy. I had conversations with the guy. I never knew he was a psycho. This all happened a year ago."
– SCRhyperior
A Tragic Accident
"I'm sure everyone has already hit on the pop culture ones, so I'll go personal. I grew up on a ranch, raising large hoofstock and poultry. Over the winter, we would buy hay from a neighbor and store it in the barn. Something like 80 tons. We get a call one summer from the hay guy's wife, in hysterics, that we have to find another hay guy, because her husband was crushed by the baler. These weren't cowgirl bales, but half-ton ones. She told us the baler had gotten twine snarled under the tilt table that slides complete bales off. He hopped off the tractor, wriggled on in under the table to reach the twine, as he had undoubtedly done many times before, only for the tilt to collapse backwards with a mostly complete bale on it. Pancake from the hips, up. Mom had nightmares about my dad getting killed in a similar manner for months"
– Sad-Bus-7460
DNA Doesn't Lie
"This one kid back in the early 20th century named Bobby Dunbar. He went missing, and after like a year of searching for him, his parents came across a man with a kid who looked a lot like Bobby. They believed it was their kid, and after a legal battle with the kid’s supposed mother, they brought the kid home. A while parade happened due to the missing kid’s return. He lived and died believing he was, in fact, Bobby Dunbar."
"Well, a few decades later, his granddaughter asked Bobby’s (nephew I think?) for a DNA sample so she could see if her and Bobby’s nephew were related. Turns out, they weren’t. Meaning the real Bobby Dunbar is still missing and, probably died alone without his parents."
– yaboispringy
Absolutely Disgusting
"So this isn’t necessarily a horror story. Okay, it kind of is. It was a definitely a nightmare inducing experience."
"So this was years ago. One evening my brother is getting ready for bed, and he had a retainer he was supposed to wear to bed."
"Now here’s the thing. My brother is a clean freak. Especially with personal hygiene. He actually has some minor OCD with personal hygiene rituals, and he’s gotten better as he’s gotten older, but the point is, he is rigorous about personal hygiene."
"So my brother was getting ready for bed and opens the sealed container where he keeps his retainer after he washes it every morning and pops his retainer into his mouth."
"And he feels it start wiggling."
"So he pops it out of his mouth like WTF, and there’s a GIANT MAGGOT in his retainer."
"No freaking clue how it could have possibly gotten into his retainer case. He threw the retainer away."
– Squirrelgirl25
Close Up Those Doggy Doors
"Happened to my boss’s best friend when they were around 17yo:"
"Best friend’s parents were out of town one weekend and she had the house to herself. Went about her business having dinner, watching tv then decided to go to bed. She was lying in her bed with her back to her closet when she heard the door open. She somehow pretended to be asleep - the man who was hiding in the closet walked around her bed to the side she was laying/facing, gently stroked her hair and face then left. She immediately called her boyfriend to ask him to come over then called her parents and then the police. Long story short this man had been getting into their home via a doggy door (they didn’t have a dog and didn’t bother to secure it) and he’d been living in a tent in the foresty area behind their home for months to creep on her. They found a ton of surveillance footage of her sleeping and pieces of her clothes and stuff."
"If I recall correctly this happened somewhere in Alabama, most likely mid-2000s."
– halfyellowhalfwhite
The Relief!
"That's scary."
"My godson's parents couldn't find him for hours one afternoon / evening and started to panic. They called family close by to help look, and eventually called the police."
"Turns out he climbed between his mattress and box spring playing hide and seek with his brother and fell asleep."
"He woke up when his parents were talking to the cops in the kitchen and just kind of walked in like, "what's everyone so upset about?""
– equality-_-7-2521
That one made me smile. We need a funny one after all that scary!
People Explain What They Say At Least 1,000 Times A Day At Their Job
As an editor, half of my job consists of waiting for writers to finish writing (or re-writing) important copy for me to look over. The edited copy goes to many other departments after mine, meaning I get bugged by the art department asking me for the edited version.
I, in turn, have to bug the writers, asking them when the copy will be ready for me. As a result, something I say at my job a million times a day is, “Hey [Writer], can I have an ETA on that [brochure copy, article, etc.]”
And while I need to say it, I know the writers probably curse my name by now!
I’m not the only one who seems to be saying the same thing a bunch of times over the course of a day. At any job, there may be one word or phrase that is said 1,000 times a day.
This can be anything from “Sounds like a plan” to “Dear God, when will this day end?!”
Redditors have shared what they say 1,000 times a day at their job, and the answers are very relatable.
Curious to find out more, Redditor laladurochka asked:
“What do you say 1000 times a day in your job?”
Pitfalls Of Video Calls
“I think somebody needs to go on mute.”
“Said whilst knowing full well exactly who is the cause of the background noise because their box is yellow.”
– VodkaMargarine
That's All, Folks!
"Sounds good."
– SumKallMeTIM
"Same, and it rarely actually sounds good."
– Former_Team9993
"I love this because there’s no rebuttal for the person on the other end. The conversation is over."
– Tommybrady20
Work Mode
"I was raised christian, but one of my first jobs was working front desk at a Jewish nonprofit. I would answer the phones to screen and direct calls, and I had a very specific greeting that I had to say every time."
"One night I was home visiting my parents, we all sit down for dinner, and my mom asks me to say the blessing. My one brain cell searches for the rote blessing I’ve said thousands of times, we all join hands, and I confidently say “Shalom, Jewish Federation. My name is ___ how can I help you?”"
– chicksonfox
"I used to work at a comic shop/game store and I definitely once answered a call from my dad with 'hi this is gameshop Foamcorps speak--wait HI DAD'"
– foamcorps
Thank You, Next
"I once worked with a voice picking system. You would confirm location, say "next". Confirm amount picked. Say "next". This was the default word, you could change it but i couldn't care. And you would say it hundreds of times per day."
"Fast forward about a year and it started slipping out in the real world. Like having a conversation, saying my bit then finishing with "next" when I was done and wanted to hear what the other person wanted to say."
"Or "Hey aubven, you wanna get pizza for dinner?""
""Yes, next""
"I started changing that voice command for that prompt roughly every fortnight to avoid this continuing."
– aubven
Not Enough Hours In The Day
"“No worries”"
"When really I am worrying about how I’m going to accomplish everything in 7.6 hours."
– mydreamreality
"Alternatively, "it's all good" when asked to do something unnecessarily tedious in addition to everything else going on. It's not all good it never is."
– thefatrabitt
Please Read My Email
""As per my previous email""
"Which is code for READ WHAT I F*CKING SENT YOU YOU ILLITERATE HUMPBACK WHALE"
– sonnenshine
"Don't you hate when you have to do that 10 times to the same person?... and then they reply with "but I already replied to you!""
"No you DIDN'T!!! YOU CLAIMED YOU DIDN'T GET/SEE MY EMAIL THE LAST 10 TIMES!!!"
"I swear people are the worst lol"
– Brambarche
The Restaurant Life
"Hey y'all my name is Tony I'll be taking care of y'all tonight, shall I start you off with two waters?"
– dankvader192
"Sure. Can we get a coke?"
– epic_taco_time
"When I said coke I meant Dr Pepper…"
– NormalCorners
"Heard"
– lilbirdd
Unadulterated Hate
"I hate this place ...."
– tim_worst_isthe_best
"I say it about 20 times a day"
– 2BFrank69
Silent Sufferer
":: Rubs temples :: :: Sighs ::"
– uncheckablefilms
"Same. I don't say a lot. I just suffer in silence."
– OrneryDiplomat
I Wish I Could Say That
"That’s not part of my job responsibilities"
– Ladefrickinda89
Counting Down The Minutes
""is it 5 o clock yet?""
– tracyinge
If Only...
""Living the dream" is my response to anyone asking me how my day is."
– this_barb
"People ask me if I'm "living the dream" I usually respond "probably someone else's""
– zxplatinum
What Do You Do?
"Don't put that in your nose."
– Important_Sprinkles9
"Kindergarten teacher or drug counselor, can't decide."
– Mr_Otingocni
It Hadn't Occurred To Me
"not a 1000 but the most times "have you tried restarting it?""
– Brilliant-Line-2616
"Ah. A mortician, I see."
– Minute-Major7782
It's All Too Much
“F*ck Goddamn Who is this dumbf*ck Jesus Christ Why are we still here”
– PoochusMaximus
Okay, I might actually say that more than ETA!
Do you have any pearls you'd like to share? Let us know in the comments below.
People Explain Which Things They Thought Were Normal As A Kid And Later Realized Were F**ked Up
We are so innocent as children.
Innocent or gullible?
I think when we're young, we tend only to see only the good.
Because that's what instinctually we gravitate towards.
But it's a sad fact to learn later that the good is darker than we realize.
Not everything in childhood is a happy, innocent memory, no matter how badly our parents want to frame it.
The folks on Reddit can certainly attest to that!
Redditor True_Customer_8913 wanted to hear about all the things we saw in a new light once we grew up, so they asked:
"What’s was normal to you as a kid but you later realized how f**ked up it actually was?"
Double Agent
"During the divorce they would try to get information about each other and say the other one was bad for me."
nasandre
"That happened to me too! Once had a judge tell 11-year-old me that my parents were one of the most immature cases he had dealt with, because they were more focused on making each other’s lives difficult than being parents."
TJ_Augustine
In Private
"My father was nice and friendly out in public but was an absolute a**hole to the family at home..."
"Me witnessing my dad being really friendly to everyone in public and then being an absolute raging a**hole at home made me just think 'well I guess everyone is just two-faced and using each other.'"
"All those movies about love are just lies and fantasies, if you're not using someone then what use are they to you? Obviously he doesn't get to use us at home so we aren't useful so we don't get treated well"
"Btw No he wasn't an alcoholic, he wouldn't even allow alcohol in the house because so many people in our family were alcoholics."
MysticalMagicalMilk
Not Funny
"My mom's boyfriend would pick me up by my hair sometimes. It didn't hurt a s**t ton so I never complained, which in turn made him keep doing it. My hair was always in a ponytail so it was easy to grab and do. I told a coworker about it and laughed because it wasn't a terrible memory. But he didn't laugh like I did."
"It was more of a nervous laugh then he says 'that's actually pretty f**ked up.' Then I started to think about all the stuff I actually do remember from my childhood and realized how shi**y it really was. I have two kids and it was never a thought to ever pick them up by their hair."
BUFUByUsF**kYou
Signs
"When I was 7, I came to the realization that if I showed any signs that I was in a good mood around my mother, she would find some reason to yell at me. Even started testing it, would walk into rooms she was in smiling vs not and proved my theory right, so I just stopped smiling, and it didn't take much longer for it to stop being an act."
LegendaryMuffins
In the Garden
"I live in England and my uncle's neighbor had a pet monkey living in a big enclosure in his garden. This was in the early 2000s. I assumed this was totally normal. No idea how he got it. We still know those neighbors and it's just never discussed."
BassEvers
When in England... stay out of trouble.
Be Free
"Not being allowed to feel or express any type anger or sadness."
Exotic-Counter5112
"Unless someone died it was, 'I don't want to hear it. Go to your room, close the door, and bury your face in a pillow until you're done,' or the worse, 'I'll give you something to cry about' followed by whooping."
BigDamnHead
Bye Mike
"Having no food in the house and little to no adult supervision while random men come and go from my mothers room."
"I'm legit impressed I nor my younger brother ended up taken or worse. It was kind of miserable, in hindsight, because some of these guys would come back with some fast food for us and hang out for a bit talking or playing video games. Magic Mike was super cool and I still miss him. :( "
Donequis
Sorry
"Thought it was normal to constantly apologize over even the slightest little f**k-up so I don't get screamed at. I still have this problem today."
CagedKage
"Not me, but my wife. I used to just reassure her that she didn't have to apologize for everything, but that didn't help her to distinguish when it was appropriate or not. Now, when she says 'sorry,' I ask what she's apologizing for, and it seems to help her a little. That being said, she apologized last night when the dog tripped me."
I_used_to_be_hip
Ouch
"I remember my sister had this fake belly button ring she showed my dad. He immediately ripped it out which was quite painful. I asked if he even knew if it was fake and he didn’t. He thought it was real and did that."
Intelligent_Bug6515
Rages
"Parents having blackout rages. Sometimes, I was a brat. Other times, I had done nothing wrong. I just remember being made to feel like a worthless loser, screamed at, and manipulated. Then the next day, they would say 'Sorry sorry sorry' This happened a lot. Eventually, the sorries mean nothing and you begin to feel actually worthless."
DistractedDreaming
Oh how the times do change. We're glad folks made it out of most of these situations!
Do you have anything to get off your chest? Let us know in the comments.
So many people love to go natural.
Nudists have been trying to make us see their ways for decades.
For some, sleeping in the buff can be one of the best ways to sleep.
Sheets cool on the flesh is such a great feeling.
Redditor Etore_the_not_smart wanted to hear from all the people who love to slumber in nothing, so they asked:
"People who sleep naked why do you sleep naked?"
I am a nude sleeper.
It changed my life.
Good Thinking
"My husband sleeps naked."
"I asked him: Dude, what if there’s a fire and we have to just run out???"
"He said: Well, my pajamas won’t catch fire… because I’m naked."
"I had no valid argument. So, there’s that."
upeepsareamazballz
So alas...
"I hate clothes. If I could choose to just never wear clothes that would be ideal. Unfortunately I was born with pasty, ghost skin and I freeze in the winter even in clothes. So alas I will keep wearing them outside the house and get nude as soon as I get home. When I am at the beach with my pasty a** ghost skin, I wear long sleeve rashguards, swim leggings, and a giant sun hat because again, pasty ghost skin. Cute swimsuits are for indoor pools imo!"
crazypurple621
Hold Me
"Home security. Any person who breaks into my house will have to deal with a balding, hairy, naked man running at them and yelling 'I JUST WANT TO CUDDLE!'"
Foraxenathog
"It is one thing to get your a** kicked after you break into a house. It is a completely different thing to get your a** kicked by a naked 40 year old with a beer belly."
Brummy1833
"That's way too terrifying to be honest."
ThickSteak6328
The Slam
"I don’t like the feeling of clothes getting all bunched up as I toss and turn at night like I normally do before my sleep wrestling starts. My wife says that I will suddenly body slam the mattress with my upper torso in the middle of the night at random."
GreyTigerFox
"My wife just calls it a 'Whale Breaching!'"
MaelstromFL
Free
"It makes me feel free and comfy."
Mountain-Safety2099
"If I wear clothes, they get all knotted and twisted up."
PolyGlamourousParsec
Comfy on the skin is a must for most folks, it seems.
Natural
"I was born naked."
JackIbach
"We come into this world screaming, naked, and covered in blood. Play your cards right and it doesn't have to stop there."
moratnz
Everyone Do It!
"It's too hot where I live. Plus it's good for your private parts health, especially for females."
ramzay_
"I always slept naked and turned my ex wife onto sleeping naked when we first met. She never did before. She said she was worried spiders or snakes would crawl into you know where"
"I explained that this wouldn’t happen, and she realized how wonderful sleeping naked is. From what she’s told me, she still does."
"Everyone should sleep naked! Clean sheets against your skin are the best feeling ever!"
RonaldTheGiraffe
It's a Crime
"Wearing clothing in bed just feels... wrong. I'd feel claustrophobic. Plus it's just such a delicious feeling to climb into high thread count cotton sheets and a down comforter - I don't want anything interfering with the sensuous pleasure of it."
Dibiasky
HEAT
"It’s more comfortable. I run hot. I hate the idea of adding more clothes to my laundry. And if someone breaks in, I’ve always imagined a naked hairy man with a hatchet will make them double think their decision. (Hatchet in nightstand)."
Cool_Story_Bro__
The Feels
"Sensory issues. Clothes feel weird on my skin when I’m lying on a mattress. They bunch up, they stick to the skin, they rub against the sheets and twist when I move positions. Plus I get hot very easily. Cannot stand sleeping with clothes on."
SentimentalApathy
"Same. Can’t handle the friction of fabric on fabric. Can’t stand when my clothes get twisted because I toss and turn. If I must wear clothes, the only thing I can somewhat tolerate is a sports bra/stretchy cami and panties."
lollipopfiend123
Crazy
"I'm 42. Till about 5 years ago I thought everyone (well about 95%) of people slept naked. But I was wrong. I think the question should be why do people wear clothes in bed?! Crazy to me."
WholeRevolutionary22
Tangled
"I get tangled in my jammies and sheets."
"It feels nicer."
"I have a naked woman beside me and cuddling feels way better naked."
4angrydragons
Well that settles it, these folks make some good points.
But what do you think? Let us know in the comments below.
People Confess Things Everyone Does But No One Actually Admits To
We've all done some embarrassing things in our lives, and we may do what we can to keep them a secret.
Whether it was something legitimately embarrassing or something like not taking the best care of ourselves, sometimes it's easier to keep those behaviors private than to have a tough or awkward conversation about them.
Curious about others' behaviors, Redditor MrTuxedo1 asked:
"What does everyone do but won’t admit?"
In Great Company
"To talk to themselves when they’re alone."
- Scandroid99
Concealing Passed Gas
"At the beginning of my relationship, I would wait until we walking in heavy traffic and let it go. He heard me once and now every time a bus goes by, he gives me a sideways look."
- FloptimasPloptimas
The Alternate Ending
"To imagine what life would be like with your crush, even as an adult."
- Oppxma
So Haunting
"To lay awake at night, remembering everything that you’ve done wrong in your entire life in 30 seconds, and then just lying there thinking about each and every one of them individually until you’ve got to get up and do something the next day."
- Summertime64
Kitchen Secrets
"To click a pair of tongs together twice whenever they pick a pair up."
- ESlayer12
Complaints Aplenty
"Probably to complain. People say, 'No one likes a complainer,' but everyone I’ve ever met complains about crap."
- Mysterious_Fisher
New Surroundings
"To secretly wish certain people… would move away."
- usercb
Reminiscing
"To think about compliments given by someone years ago."
- SuvenPan
Awake for Hours
"To pretend like they weren’t sleeping when a phone call wakes them up."
- Ddubs111
Nose-Picking
"I remember seeing a while back, one user’s dad apparently had a saying, 'We all pick our noses… it’s what we do afterwards that separates us.'"
- Burgher89
Being Judgmental
"Judge. We all do it. It’s about being intelligent enough to not let that cloud our perspective."
"Also, I mean, sometimes it's okay and even good to judge. Sometimes people are bad for you to be around, and that's important to recognize."
"Being judgmental is only a bad thing if you're overly so and/or do it for bad reasons, imo. But even with that, yeah, we all do it."
- Maleficient_Hawk_318
Past Connections
"To wonder if people that have since long disappeared from your life (or you've only met once or twice) from time to time still think about you."
- Ioakpaa
The Next Great Singer
"I tried to sing, like, really good. When I'm alone, I be hitting those high notes, even though I sound like a dying walrus."
- kumorithecloud
Imaginary Comebacks
"To have (and even win) an argument with a stranger from an encounter three years ago when you didn't say anything at the time."
- mrandymoz
Avoiding Healthcare
"To not go to see the doctor when they know they should."
- SuvenPan
Most of these activities seem mundane, and that's because we've all done them, whether we want to admit to it or not.
But like anything else, there are limits. While it might be okay to reminisce or to explore guilty feelings from time to time, these aren't activities that should take place every night.