
Everyone obsessed with true crime doesn't really grasp the idea of... True Crime.
Do we?
It's not a movie.
This could be us.
Horror is happening all around us.
Maybe that's why slasher movies do so well.
Redditor Noahs_25 wanted to hear about some non-fictional tales of horror.
So they asked:
"What is the scariest story you know that is 100% true?"
I haven't seen much except your occasional brawl. So tell me more...
The Collapse
"The 1904 Cincinnati Privy Disaster. In 1904, nine schoolgirls drowned in an outhouse after the floor collapsed. They literally drowned in human waste."
Jenny010137
In the Attic
"I would call it creepy more than scary, but my mom's friend had a small house and lived alone. She noticed weird things: a batch of soup depleting faster than usual, missing eggs, damp towels in the hamper when she hadn't used any, extra dishes in the dishwasher, etc... This went on for months, she thought she was just being forgetful."
"One day she heard some thumping around in her attic and went to investigate. She found some make shift living quarters. Small radio, hot plate, sleeping bag, pillow, food wrappers, etc... She called the cops who came to keep an eye on the place. They ended up catching a homeless man climbing a tree, trying to sneak into her attic window."
"He had been doing this almost daily. He would wait for her to go to work, then go down stairs and help himself to food and amenities. The funny part about this story is they got to know each other throughout the ordeal, and the guy was actually very respectful, just down on his luck."
"She didn't press charges, instead, let him move in, helped him get a job, and he lived in the attic until he got back on his feet. Creepy crap with a happy ending."
Saganic
In the Road
"My mom was driving, and a guy ran out in the road, so she stopped so she couldn’t hit him. It was night time, so it was pretty dark out, and 3 other men emerged from the forest around, all trying to use the door handles of her car to get in. She locked them luckily, and gassed it to the nearest town. Remember to always lock your car after you start it, because if it wasn’t unlocked who knows what would’ve happened to her."
Oxidias
And it really explodes...
"Neishabur train dissaster is something that reminds me how death can come at any moment. A train with 51 wagons of sulphur, fertilizer, petrol and cotton wool somehow broke loose and rolled down the track about twenty kilometers until it derailed in the town of Khayyam, Iran. There were no humans on board."
"Chemical leaks ensued and authorities tried to extinguish whatever fires broke out."
"At one point, the whole thing explodes. And it really explodes. The whole town of Khayyam is literally demolished, 3 nearby towns are badly damaged and it was heard 70 km away. The wreckage continued to explode for several days after. Around 300 people died and more than that injured. An earthquake of 3.6 on Riechter scale was produced."
Chiruadr
Drop Dead
"My friend's boss bought an Audi A4 convertible, back when they were new and interesting. One of the talking points was the pop-up roll hoops that were hidden unless you rolled it. A few months after buying it he got to test those roll hoops out, as he lost control and skidded down a steep bank about 10m (~35ft) deep."
"The roll hoops did their job, and he survived with just cuts and scratches from the bushes he'd plowed through. The car ended up the right way up and he got out, walked back up the bank to the side of the road, then got on the phone to the police to report the accident."
"While he was standing there a driver from a car that had seen the accident came over to speak to him. Approaching from behind the other driver asked if he was okay. My friend's boss turned around to reply and dropped dead. His neck had been fractured, but was in one piece right up until he turned his head, when it severed his spinal cord."
BigBadAl
Well this is all giving me heart palpitations.
Shots Fired
"Artimus Pyle the drummer from Lynard Skynard survived a plane crash and walked to a nearby house only to be shot by the homeowner. The homeowner saw a bloody long-haired man and winged him. Pyle survived that as well and made a full recovery. He told the story first hand in an interview with Howard Stern. That’s how I initially heard of this. I don’t have that audio, but I did find this https://lynyrdskynyrd.fandom.com/wiki/1977_Plane_Crash"
Rickson20
Bunk
"The driver one of the Semis we took in on trade died in the truck. The sleeping area is a 'bunk' with a mattress that can be flipped up and under it is a seat and a table. So during the day it's a Dinet set up. And at night, you pull a lever and pull the bunk down to sleep. Well something happened and the bunk flipped up while the driver was sleeping and it pinned him against the wall. He couldn't get it to drop back down and suffocated."
"He was stuck there for somewhere around 12 hours. Someone had noticed that he was parked for an unusually long amount of time for the kind of deliveries he did. The company that built the sleeper did something to the bunk so that couldn't happen again and supposedly recalled all of that sleeper style."
z0mbiemechanic
“gut feelings”
"When my aunt was about 16 she was working at a grocery store and had a boss in his mid twenties. One day he called the house and was begging her to sneak out and hang out with him. She was considering it because it was her boss and she didn’t want to say no."
"My mom, who is two years younger than her, always gets these incredibly spot on 'gut feelings.' She had one that night and begged my aunt not to go out with him. Thankfully she listened to my mom and told him no which made him really angry. He ended up going out that night and meeting another girl."
"He took her out to some cliffs and pushed her off. Somehow she lived through this and was able to get him sent to prison. I feel so sorry for that girl and so thankful for my mom and her gut feelings. Always trust your gut."
pessimisticoptimista
Normal
"I spent my first 10 years in New Delhi. Back then, we would find dead women (burnt with acid or set on fire) and it used to be so 'normal.' Like oh look, another one of those dowry cases where her family didn't pay the husband enough money so they killed her. Many years later i revisited those memories and realised how insane that actually was! I'd totally forgotten about all that."
saywat30
A Close Call
"My friend tripped and fell onto the tracks, landing his face onto the 3rd rail. We kinda stood there in absolute shock because we thought he was dead, but then he said, 'can I move? Will I be electrocuted?' We told him to move instantly and he did, we got him off the tracks, and no less than 2 minutes later a train went zipping by. I think the 3rd rail turned on seconds after his face came off of it. I know that's not scary to a lot of people, but to me it was because I would have lost a close friend back when I was about 12."
tacolikesweed
'Is this your room?'
"I was in a crappy motel. The room had bedbugs. I was too exhausted to go to the front desk. I just needed to make it until the morning. I slept in the tub. hours later I hear someone breaking through the window. I had a big knife with me and ran out into the room to find a man halfway through my window."
"We stared for awhile at each other in shock. I think we both were scared. then he says, 'Is this your room?' I'm like, 'yes, this is my room man!' more staring. Then he slowly starts backing out while cursing me for leaving my window unlocked and not expecting him to break in. Motel on Watt ave, Sacramento."
We're Open
"That there's a guy casing the bar that I work at literally right now, and I can't do anything to stop him. He's been in asking what time/days we're open, and what days we have security. Caught him feeling the corners of our windows and doors too. Unfortunately, until he breaks in and robs us, the police won't do a thing."
ExtraEvilJesus
So Cheap
"A guy I worked with was riding his dirt-bike through the woods and somebody hung a cable between two trees. My buddy caught his throat on it and saw the dude steal his dirt-bike. Woke up in the hospital with a lacerated throat and a broken larynx. Pretty crazy what somebody will do for something so cheap."
Beatleborg22
Trapped
"Nutty Putty Cave in Utah was sealed up in 2009 after John Jones was trapped upside-down in a small crevice while spelunking. When rescue teams finally arrived he had been upside-down for so long that his legs were drained of blood."
"The only possible way to have gotten him out was to break his legs, which would’ve sent him into fatal shock. He died after being trapped for 28 hours. His body’s still in the cave."
"Squish"
"Amateur rugby. Guy gets hit pretty hard and dislocates his hip. While waiting for the ambulance, a guy runs up saying he's a physio and can at least relocate the joint. He cracks the hip back into its socket and the guy SCREAMS. One of his testicles had been jolted out of place in the accident - and had been chilling out in the empty hip socket."
"Squish."
chocolate_on_toast
Off Duty
"Two off duty US soldiers were on a train in France. When walking past a toilet they recognised the loading noises of rifles coming from inside. They waited outside and jumped the guy when he came out. He was a terrorist who was about to go through the train killing people."
"https://www.wsj.com/articles/two-u-s-soldiers-help-subdue-attacker-on-french-train-1440238328"
jplevene
Dead
"An acquaintance of mine sent his son to triathlon camp in Texas. A week later, his son came back from camp. The next day, the son was complaining of a headache. Four days later, he was dead. Healthy, happy, fit 12 year old one week, dead the next."
"Turns out the lake had Naegleria fowleri, the brain-eating amoeba. Nothing scares me as irrationally as already being dead and waiting for your body to catch on. Link for those interested."
persondude27
As if Dateline NBC isn't enough to watch. Goodness...
If you or someone you know is struggling, you can contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 988.
To find help outside the United States, the International Association for Suicide Prevention has resources available at https://www.iasp.info/resources/Crisis_Centres/
When it's time to go... GO!
Our guts know when it's time time to exit.
Knowing how to run and save yourself is important.
That little voice in our minds always knows when something is up.
Don't deny it.
It's especially obvious when a murderer is chasing you, or someone is on fire running toward you.
Redditor Apprehensive6815 wanted to hear about the times we knew we had to flee, so they asked:
"What was your 'I need to get out of here ASAP” moment?'
I've lost track of the amount of times I've felt that feeling and fled.
ROAR
"I unknowingly walked up next to a mountain lion one morning on a hike. And I’ve never felt true fear til that moment."
_captaintripz
EXITS
"In the late 70s and I was stationed at Ft. Campbell, KY. I was off-post drinking with a buddy and we met a couple of older vets and we started talking, joking... nice time. As the bar was closing down they invited us to their place to have a few more beers. I drove a `65 Chevy pickup so we followed them down into Clarksville and ended up drinking beers in the family room while the one guy's wife and kids hung around."
"But all of the sudden the mood changed in the room. These guys turned nasty... making off-hand insulting remarks. No more jokes. Got dark real quick. I excused myself to take a leak and just as I came out of the john... I heard the guy who owned the house say to his wife in the kitchen, 'Take the kids back to the bedroom and lock the door. Don't come out no matter what you hear out here.'"
"The hairs on the back of my neck stood up and I immediately got tunnel vision. I turned and ran top speed down the hall and yelled to my buddy as I whistled past the family room and out the door. I had the Chevy fired up in no time flat and saw my buddy dive into the bed of the pickup through the rear-view mirror as I gunned the engine and fishtailed out the driveway. That's my 'I need to get out of here ASAP' story and it still makes my palms sweat thinking about it."
flippenstance
No Big Deal
"I was walking home one night after the bar, on a long semi lit street. There was a man walking a fair piece back yelling at me to stop, he wanted to talk to me etc. I just kept walking thinking just a drunk dude NBD. A cab pulled up to me and stoped and asked if the guy walking was my boyfriend. I told him know I have never seen him before. The cabby told me to get in the car because that guy paid him $50 to go around to block and stop me."
"The cabby did so thinking maybe we were a couple having a fight. I got in the cab and we had to drive past this guy to turn around to head toward me house and he started freaking out that the guy didn’t stop for him. That night a cabby may have saved me from many years of therapy or possibly my life. I did not walk long stretches at night again."
yeahsheskrusty
Tarped
"I was building a cinder block wall in the winter in Canada. We had the area tarped off with a salamander heater running to keep us warm. One day I noticed my eyes were starting to burn so I looked over at the guy I was working with and asked if he felt weird in any way. When he looked at me I realized he was squinting and so was I. We were maybe 20 feet from each other. Needless to say we killed the heater and got outside the tarp. I wasn’t in the mood for carbon monoxide poisoning."
PocketSand111
Members Only
"I used to be a part of a rapidly growing cult. I knew I needed to leave when they started convincing teenagers to recruit kids at their high schools."
hermanalexie
Stay away from cults. Keep an eye out.
The Dad
"My friends had a friend in high school we called The Dad. If he ever felt uncomfortable at a party and wanted to leave, we would follow. He had the best instincts and saved us from the police, random fights and other foul drama many a time."
joykilled
Wrong Turns
"I once took a wrong turn on a street in Chicago from a pretty decent neighborhood somewhere around Archer and Harlem. Anyways, I don't know how we ended up where we did but I was like 18 driving my Dad's Toyota Camry through a large group gathering of some gang all decked out in colors. Like they were literally everywhere on the street, just hanging out and chilling like they were having a block party... maybe they were, but we got the distinct impression that we did not belong on this particular street and sort of got the hell out of there as fast as we could."
DryEyes4096
Shots Fired
"I was 19 and hanging out with some work friends in Cleveland and one of the guys looked out the window and pulled out a gun and told us all to get down. I, of course, was terrified. Thankfully no shots were fired, but I excused myself after it ended and went home."
dma1965
Machete
"Was hanging out outside of my church when a dude ran by that kept looking behind him, then another one passed by that was throwing rocks behind him. When I looked what were they running away from there was a group of 5 dudes with machetes chasing them and one dead by the side of the road. Actually took me a minute to process and get inside."
MaximumPower682
Gotta Go!
"Major diarrhea at the airport, and the toilet wouldn't flush."
Fracture_98
Life Lesson:
Always have good running shoes.
Do you have any experiences where your instincts quite literally saved you? Let us know in the comments below.
Life is worse than fiction.
We as humans can be witnesses to the most brutal things life has to offer, sometimes by accident.
That's why therapy bills are so high.
You think you can handle the rough stuff.
You watch TV, someone dies horribly, and the day goes on.
But when you see it live and in person?
Your life changes.
Redditor wetbumgirl wanted to hear from people who were willing to share their real life nightmares, so they asked:
"What was the most disturbing thing you saw in person?"
Worst thing I ever saw was a dead body on the side of the road.
Never again please.
Shredded
"I saw a guy's leg shredded by recycling truck that didn’t see him. It was something out of a human anatomy text book. You could see every muscle and bone from thigh to shin. The poor dude was still alive in extreme pain. As the ambulance came to get him he looked so pale and cold. I found out he died shortly after."
alfonso010676
A Gut Punch
"ER nurse, trauma code on a middle aged gentleman who wrecked his car, basically dead on arrival and didn’t make it. The ambulance that dropped him off had to do a speed clean of the bloody gurney to rush out to another call immediately. 30 minutes later it brings in an old lady who had fallen at home."
"She kept saying she can’t get ahold of her son and he was suppose to take her to the hospital. Turns out her son was the one who wrecked his car on his way to take his mom to the hospital, and she was brought in on the same gurney that her dead son was just laying on moments earlier."
"That was a gut punch having to tell her the bad news."
"(This was in a rural community with limited ambulance service)."
TheTallerTaylor
At the Bottom
"When I was about 9 years old our family was staying at a campground on a river in northern Michigan. A 2 year old boy had wandered off and was missing. The entire park was looking for him. After about two hours with no luck some of us began looking in the water at the ends of the docks nearby. When I dove down in about 4’ of water I found him floating just off the bottom of the river."
"I pulled him to the surface and shouted for help. The EMTs made an effort to resuscitate him. To no avail. As horrible as that was, the thing that I will never forget was the sound his mother made when I carried him ashore. I still enjoy boating and swimming, but I have a very healthy respect for the water."
upshot
So much blood. So sad.
Limbs
"Human body parts moments after they got hit by a semi truck… an arm about 35 feet from the head."
Careless-Sky-8409
SHOOKETH!!
"Entering a friend’s place for the first time without prior knowledge that he was/is a hoarder at age 40. total shock. Dude has normal job, friends etc. But an absolute hoarder. Dead mice in the flat, trash in the kitchen reaching almost to the ceiling, mould everywhere on one wall of the bedroom. I didn’t dare to use the bathroom… Utter shock."
Revolutionary-Mud194
Bikers
"I was waiting at a bus stop, and on the other side of the rather tall divider were three bikers waiting for the light behind a bus, at a major intersection. Moments later, another bus came up behind, but realised too late it had no brakes. Several people injured, but two of the three bikers were squished to pulp. One was thrown to the pavement on the far side of the road, and survived with injuries. I never dared cross the road and look on the other side of that divider. It was in the papers the next morning."
BlatantJacuzzi
No Contact
"I was no contact with my abusive addict mom for many years. She passed in 2020; a sheriff's deputy found her during a wellness check. It was declared that she had been dead for a couple of weeks in July heat with no utilities. My father and I drove to her house the day after they removed her body. You could smell the decomposition from a block away."
"She had cancelled trash services and had 3+ years of garbage bags piled to the ceiling in her garage. There were rats running all over the house. 99.9% of our family pictures were pissed on or eaten by rats and not salvageable. Both of her toilets were out of order and full to the brim with crap. Everything I saw in her house was absolute nightmare fuel."
lady_guard
Hands Off
"I watched a guy get sucker punched outside a club (not uncommon where I used to live) but he fell back and hit his head and a pool of blood started spreading from the back of his head. I always wonder whether he died/had long lasting damage."
bishsticksandfrites
If only we could take out our eyes and wash them of some of these sights.
Do you have any similar experiences? Let us know in the comments below.
People Explain Which Things They Wish The Opposite Sex Understood Better
Whether it's in family, friendships, or dating, we've all felt misunderstood at some point. But it seems especially common to feel misunderstood by the opposite sex.
Here are some key points that people wished those of the opposite sex would just understand already.
Redditor idontplayhockey asked:
"What is something you wish the opposite sex understood better?"
Compliments Go a Long Way
"A good chunk of the men who need reassurance are most likely not getting enough compliments in the relationship."
"This isn't always the case, but I always felt insane dating certain people, and then with the right person who complimented me, is genuinely attracted to me and initiated things, and who ACTUALLY loves me (I now think others weren't that attracted to me, even ex-fiance), and I have never felt more confident, and safe in a relationship."
"Looking back, my intuition was correct with the other people I dated, and that's why I never felt secure."
- TinyDrug
Food Secrets
"If you wanted fries, you should have asked for fries."
- podrick_pleasure
For the Love of LEGO
"I don't drink, smoke, gamble, do drugs, go to strip clubs, or play video games... My vice is LEGO (yes, I'm a f**king dork) and my wife just can't stop complaining about the LEGO."
- lazyFer
The Dating Game
"Wish both sexes better understood biased selections. F**kboys, f**kgirls, arrogant egotistical people, and deplorable tw*ts will be overrepresented in the pool of people you encounter in a dating setting."
"Normal people form relationships, get tired of all the bulls**t, and 'age out' of the dating pool, all of which makes them underrepresented."
- 5e884898da
Stay the Same
"When I say, 'Just like that,' I don't mean speed up to 100 miles per hour."
- Unlikely_Anywhere464
Not Perfect
"For both sexes, we are flawed people and we are not perfect. Stop expecting everything to be perfect 100% of the time. I'm far from perfect, but I strive to make myself better. I'm married guy."
- ThrowAway97283917
Okay with the Friend Zone
"This might be specific to me, but... If I ask you out, and you say no, that's it. Like there's no lingering weirdness or anything. If you're not interested in me romantically, that's fine."
"I'm perfectly cool just being friends. I won't be awkward or anything about it, won't bring it up, won't bring it up to mutual friends, it was just a question."
"The friend zone isn't a bad thing all the time. Sometimes it's where the best friends come from."
- bstyledevi
Feeling Clueless
"I genuinely have no clue about 99% of the mind games taking place around me."
- SolitaryDumpster
Be Direct
"It's not as romantic, but plainly saying, 'I want the D' would fix so many issues in the communication department."
"Don't come to my place claiming to be interested in my hobbies but really after the D, because I will museum guide you through all that s**t that is my past time, and the idea of unzipping will scarcely occur to me."
- ZenEvadoni
Individualized Emotions
"Just because you keep telling me it's okay to have emotions doesn't mean I'm going to burst into tears. I have emotions, they're just quiet and don't bother people."
"I'm not emotionally distant or unfeeling. I'm just not going to burst into tears because the dog died in 'Marley and Me.' I'll cry when my dog dies in 'My Dog and Me.'"
- DanteWolfe0125
Menstruation Woes
"How bad period pain can get for some women."
"Have you ever been WOKEN UP from pain at 3 AM that didn’t go away for at least a couple of hours so you just stayed awake because going back to sleep was definitely not happening?"
"Painkillers only work for me if I catch it BEFORE it gets bad."
- BluWaff_x
Boundaries, Please
"Just because you think I’m pretty, doesn’t mean I need you to send me a photo of your junk. Come on now."
Connect First
"As a guy, I don't always want to have sex. Wanting to get in your pants isn't an indicator of liking you or not. Sometimes I just want to laugh and see how I enjoy being around you because most people turn out disappointing."
- Vapes-DB
Happy to Help
"We're honestly happy to help you lift stuff and carry stuff and put things away on high shelves. We like being big and strong. But please don't take it for granted. Show your appreciation."
- Fuzzpot
No Means No
"'No' doesn’t mean 'convince me.'"
- prosecutie05579
Some of these examples were heartening, as they apply to both genders, but others, like no meaning no, are disappointing, as it feels like it's a concept all people should understand by now.
Things That Are Considered Basic Knowledge That Many People Don't Know
Once we're "all grown up," we like to think we know all there really is to know in life.
But sometimes it's startling how much a person still has to learn.
Already cringing, Redditor ej1273 asked:
"What's considered basic knowledge that many people don't know?"
Road Safety
"I feel like it is a common sentiment that all semi-drivers are good drivers because they have to get licensed and whatnot."
"This is not true anymore. I mean, they still have to get licenses but the industry is in such dire need of drivers that they're just kinda hand waving a lot of s**t and now we have a bunch of idiots driving huge murder trucks."
- CopeH1984
Car Signals
"When your turn signal starts blinking at 2x speed, it's a warning that one of your turn signal bulbs is out."
- gbarfoot
Car Health Checks
"Check your tire pressure. Every time you get your oil changed, you need to check all five tires. Yes, all FIVE! The average car on the road has five, the four on the ground and a spare."
"That spare will do f**k-all for you if you have a flat, and it’s been at 2 PSI for a year."
"While we’re at it, make sure your jack, wrench, lug nut key, and possibly some gloves are always in the car."
- pauliep13
Building Things
"Measure twice, cut once."
- ahughes918
Paying Taxes
"Not everything is a tax write-off. I'm convinced 99% of people have absolutely no understanding of tax credits and just parrot what other people tell them."
- ShawshankException
More Taxes
"Tax brackets, oh my god. The number of times I've heard some mal-educated idiot act as though earning more money will result in less money in their pockets because they'll go into a higher tax bracket is scary. And to think these people vote, and sit on juries... Absolutely terrifying."
- TerritoryTracks
Healthcare
"Antibiotics don’t work on viruses."
- Trick-Grade-9164
Staying Warm
"Drinking alcohol makes a person FEEL warmer but you're much more susceptible to freezing to death."
"The reason that it was given to people when they were found freezing was actually because they had been found. And opening up the blood vessels to get blood into the extremities helped prevent frostbite."
"So you could say that alcohol decreases your chance of frostbite, but increases your chance of dying. If you know how long you have until help arrives, you can use this to your advantage."
- Picker-Rick
Shopping Etiquette
"It is very easy to not block the whole aisle with your cart at the grocery store."
- AnaisGiovanna
Public Transport Manners
"That forgetting your headphones doesn't mean we want to hear you scrolling through TikTok on the bus."
- maddog232323
No Money Back
"How not to fall for a very obvious scam on the internet."
- FlashTheorie
Attitude
"Yelling louder doesn’t make you more correct."
- Longjumping_event_59
Essential Home Care
"Where their water shutoff is in their house."
- MakennaTalia
Healthy Diet
"Low-calorie food doesn't mean healthy food."
"Vegan doesn't mean healthy."
"Fats aren't unhealthy."
- david_bragg
For the Love of Grammar
"How to use there, their, and they’re."
- paulboyrom
While these were all basic concepts to some people, it was surprising how many people did not know some of them. And ironically, some of them could really make someone's life easier.