scary experiences

Top Stories

People Confess The Scariest Thing Their Spouse Ever Said To Them

Reddit user i_like_purple_clouds asked: 'What is the scariest thing your spouse ever said to you?'

A woman crying
Photo by Danie Franco on Unsplash

Content Warning: Mental Health, Suicide, Suicidal Ideation, Violence

It's so hard to know what someone else is thinking or going through.

Even when they tell us, it can be difficult to fathom the feeling without living it ourselves.

Because of this, sometimes a person can really surprise us by saying something we never expected, even the people we love the most in the world.

Redditor i_like_purple clouds asked:

"What is the scariest thing your spouse ever said to you?"

Absolute Nightmares

"'Look at all those snakes on the ceiling!'"

"It was the middle of the night. He was actually fast asleep. There were no snakes."

- morganafiolett

"My ex was an arachnophobe, and my son had a fever dream/nightmare and was very distressed, screaming that he had woken up and seen 'tarantulas' scuttling into the corners of the underside of the upper bunk of his bunk bed."

"I was doing that, 'Honey, you're very sick, and you've been asleep, and I know it feels very real, but I promise you that there are no spiders...' speech when my ex just ran in, scooped up the boy, and hollered, 'F**k that noise, woman! Call me when you've flipped the mattresses!!' and legit ran out of the apartment with kiddo, lol (laughing out loud)."

"This annoyed me to no end at the time, but my son later told me that my ex made him feel very heard."

- kifferella

Their Reason for Living

"'There are times when I only wake up because I know you're here.'"

- Foreveridosyncratic

"Very sweet, but it would break my heart to hear, which is exactly why I don't say it to my husband, even when it feels true."

- Silhouette_Edge

That Familiar Heart Stitch

"'I think I'm having a heart attack.'"

"It was her first panic attack. I broke every law driving her to the hospital. Thankfully she's doing better now."

- HyliaSerket

"I said this to my fiancé last winter after (being in the process of) getting diagnosed with a heart arrhythmia. I woke him up SOBBING in the middle of the night when he was dead asleep and said, 'I think I’m having a heart attack.'"

"Poor guy. It’s insane how a panic attack can mimic a heart attack. My arm even went numb/tingly!"

- SummerSunset8

Truth Mid-Session

"During our first marriage counseling session, we were asked about our goals for this session. She said, 'I don’t want this to work.'"

"And it did not work. That was the end of our marriage. At the time, it was the scariest moment of my life. Today, three years later, I can honestly say neither of us was happy and needed some help."

"Therapy works. Sometimes honesty hurts and revelations are hard."

- ATENFOOTTURD

Always, Always Ask For Help

"'I thought about hanging myself in the garage last night.' That was my husband when he finally told me how bad he was struggling with his mental health."

"I had no idea he was in such a dark place. Hearing that come out of his mouth both scared the s**t out of me and ripped my heart out."

- heyypeach

The Ultimatum

"'If this is what being with you for the rest of my life is going to be like, I want out right now.'"

"This was said six months into my second marriage."

"I finally heard it: that I was damaged and that I needed help."

"I immediately found a therapist and went steadily for 10 years. It was hard as f**k. Lots of uncomfortable times."

"But it changed me. We are together now pretty f**king happily, 23 years with now two amazing kids. S**t doesn’t have to last forever."

- um8medoit

What's with the Lights?

"'All the lights downstairs just went on. There is someone in our house...'"

"I was on a business trip and my wife called me at 3:00 AM. Never felt so helpless in my life."

"She called the police and they searched our home from top to bottom but we never found out who switched on every single light on the ground floor!"

- GnOeLLLmPF

"Our basement was like this. My husband kept blaming me for leaving the light on, but I had stopped going down there because I was pregnant and didn't want to do unnecessary stairs."

"When he, quite upset at me for continuing to do what irked him so much, told me, 'Can you stop leaving lights on, I'm the one who has to pay the power bill,' and I was like, 'Actually, I haven't been down there in weeks.'"

"I assumed the basement was haunted or we had someone secretly living down there (unlikely because we have security set up... And dogs). But it turns out one of the light switches (the type with a dimmer) was just broken. You'd turn it off and leave the room... But then a few minutes later it would short and turn back on."

- evange

Undervaluing Themselves

"At her lowest point of depression, whilst out shopping, with no apparent trigger, she deadpanned, 'You'd be better off if I didn't come home.'

"Fortunately, she got out of that rut, but doesn't remember saying it and how much it terrified me."

- takesbribes

A Secret Life

"I discovered he was addicted to cocaine. It was completely out of the blue. I would have never found out if I hadn’t stained my shirt and had to go home to change and walked in on him snorting a fat rail at 1:39 PM on a random Tuesday."

"I gave him an ultimatum: my support during rehab unconditionally, or we completely part ways if you want to continue snorting coke all day."

"He said, 'The coke, I don’t want to talk to you.'"

"He chose coke and we divorced, and I have no idea whether he is alive or dead. Frankly, the man I married never actually existed. I have such a bad picker I’ve decided to just give up."

- Glldinkiering

"Honestly, bless him for being straightforward and allowing you to get out quickly. He could have taken you through multiple years of hell of trying to get clean and relapsing over and over. Staying home to do lines alone on a random Tuesday is pretty deep in it, so it's a blessing you caught him that day and got out."

- anoidciv

"He also did me a solid by insisting we have a prenuptial agreement which protected me when his @ss was sued into oblivion by his business partners for embezzling money for coke."

- Glldinkiering

Terrible News

"'I've been in an accident...'"

- Ok-Detective-1721

"I’ve been that guy, she happened to call me as I was being lifted into the ambulance with my head smashed after being hit by a car. I had regained consciousness only seconds earlier."

"Somehow I had the presence of mind to phrase it, 'I’m okay, but I have to go to hospital because I’ve had an accident.'"

- lilgreenrosetta

Bad Dreams Love Company

"'Who’s that standing in the corner?' she said at 2:00 AM while sitting up in bed and pointing towards the corner."

"I was still half asleep but freaking out and then she just laid back down and continued sleeping like nothing happened. No one was in the corner."

- futbo2

"One time I got out of bed to use the bathroom, and as I crossed in front of the bed my wife sat up and started screaming like nothing I’ve ever heard."

"I had an injury that has had me sleeping with extra pillows to position my body comfortably since I was early twenties. The pillows made it look in the dark like I was still asleep next to her. So when she saw me crossing in front of the bed, she thought someone had broken in and was in our room."

- PerfectionPending

Unwelcome Houseguests

"She was filling our water bottles before coming to bed and I was just on my phone in bed. I heard her come up the stairs almost like she tripped on the last step because she usually misses that last one."

"Just as I’m getting up to go see if she’s alright, she comes flying through the bedroom door closing it behind her. I never saw her scared like this and I was confused until she said, 'Something just followed me up the stairs.'"

"I nearly s**t myself, that type of fear where tears spring to your eyes and your stomach knots."

"I’m not sure what I would have done if it was just the two of us alone in the house. (There were others, but they were in their room and asleep.)"

"At first, I thought it was the dog, but she confirmed it was very much not. There was nothing there. She claims it was a large black mass behind her that she could hear. We both had a bit of trouble going to sleep that night."

- MonsterMontvalo

"My best friend was at a friend's house and had a dark mass behind him, over his shoulder, and looking down on him."

"In the middle of the night on the way to the restroom, he felt it. He paused for he didn’t know how long, 10 seconds or 10 minutes, he couldn’t say. Then he looked up and saw it in a mirror at the end of the hall. He sprinted to the restroom and stayed there until the sun came up."

"His friend said he looked terrible in the morning and he responded by saying he saw something last night."

"His friend said, 'Oh man, talk to Mom about it.'"

"He told the Mom about the experience, and she asked, 'Was it the light one or the dark one?'

"Dark one. 'Ok good, the light one is mean.' And that’s all that was said."

- M_n_Ms

F**k Cancer

"'I’m tired and want to go home.'"

"He died six hours later, after only fighting cancer for six weeks."

- Bulky-Tomatillo-1705

"She told me, 'I want to die at home.'"

"She had been battling cancer for five weeks and wanted to be home. She had a few weeks with me and died eight weeks after the inital diagnosis. F**k cancer."

- kazz-wizz

Talk... About What?!

"We need to talk when you get home."

"Folks, I spent the next six hours going over every possible thing I could have done wrong to warrant that response. We were in the middle of buying a house and planning our wedding and I thought everything could possibly be crumbling."

"Turns out my darling wife, the love of my life, and my best friend missed the f**king memo of what 'we need to talk' means in a relationship and wanted to talk to me about CARPETING FOR THE HOUSE."

"That conversation happened over a dozen years ago at this point and I still remind her from time to time about how she almost gave me a heart attack."

"To this day, she thinks it's hilarious."

- Trendsa

Brutal, To Be Honest

"Good god, I have to stop reading these. So much heartbreak here."

"It’s good to be reminded to not take things for granted in good times."

- slaphappypap

This conversation was a great example of how little we might know of what's going on in someone's head, even if it's the person we love the most in the world.

But at least in these Redditors' cases, their partners were willing to share this information with them, which gave them an opportunity to make the situation better.

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/

People Reveal The Scariest Person They've Ever Met

Reddit user sludge_factory_777 asked: 'Who is the scariest person you have ever met?'

Content Warning: True Crime Topics

It's hard to know what's going on in someone's head without having their mind ourselves, but we can make assumptions based on how they behave.

Some people have a serious vibe about them that other people know better than to mess with, with some of those vibes downright terrifying.

Redditor sludge_factory_777 asked:

"Who is the scariest person you have ever met?"

Jail Besties

"I got a DUI back in 2009 and was taken to the Placer County drunk tank. A guy with tattoos all over his face approached me..."

"He wanted to offer me his roll of toilet paper for a pillow. He introduced himself as the 'Sac City Psycho,' and he told me he would watch over me to make sure nobody f**ked with me, because he could tell I did not have much experience in jail."

"Now looking back on it, I guess for a few hours there, I was his b***h."

"Super nice guy, though. I 10 out of 10 would be his b***h again."

- NagoGmo

Innocent Until Feeling the Vibes

"I did an internship at a jail and met a dude awaiting trial on a triple homicide."

"The guy just had that vibe around him that just made you feel uncomfortable. Just being in his presence, you could feel the air change around you."

"Everyone in that room felt and respected it."

- throughthequad

The Magnetic Personality Type

"I once did one of those corporate mock jury panels. The little scientist analytics guy came out halfway through to shoot the breeze and holy h**l, I never understood what people meant by having a magnetic personality until then."

"We were clamoring over this dude. It was completely involuntary. He asked me a question and it was an out-of-body experience watching myself act like a golden retriever."

"I was so freaked out that I avoided him like the plague the rest of the panel. Nice dude. Seemed chill, but he could have started a cult with a snap of his fingers. Absolutely terrifying."

- Bridge-etti

Top-Notch Security

"I once as a medical student was doing a rotation in the state mental prison. We had to do a basic physical on this guy."

"There was a chair in the middle of the room, bolted to the floor. He had cuffs on his wrists and feet secured to the chair. Nine guards were in the room surrounding us, not more than five feet from the chair in a circle."

"He was off, just not there, and didn't want to cooperate. He looked at me, saw my coat, and said, 'That guy is from the university. I want to talk to him.'"

"I still don't know what he had done, but after a few months of the rotation, no one else had that degree of security for medical visits. No one else was even close."

- rykh7

Biker Aesthetic

"My cousin. He's a high-ranking member of a pretty well-known one-percent motorcycle club. The dude stands maybe five feet, seven inches tall, and he is of average build. He has no visible tattoos and is super soft-spoken."

"Everything about him says he should be a banker, not a biker. I have never seen him even raise his voice once but that dude scares the absolute s**t out of me. He gives off strong psycho energy."

- SignificantFix8218

Scary Dude with a Big Heart

"I live in New Mexico and met 'Big Dragon' from 'Beyond Scared Straight.' He does outreach like that with troubled kids."

"I was working as a teacher at YDDC, and they brought him down. The dude is no joke."

"I shook his hand, and you could just tell, the only reason he was not killing people was he didn't want to, because if he did, the guards would have not been able to do anything about it."

- Soundwave-1976

Murderous Besties

"I got arrested for public intoxication in the mid-to-late 90's and was put in a normal cell because the drunk tank was full. About ten minutes later, I was woken up and hastily moved to an adjoining cell."

"I visited with the guy in the first cell I was in for a few hours. When I was bailed out, I bumped knuckles with Gary, the guy in the second cell, and left."

"I later found out he was Gary Kleypas, and he was being held on first-degree murder... of a college student."

- TheJonnieP

Completely Out of Place

​"I was working at a bar in a pretty small town when we had a drifter come in on a random midweek night. The second he walked through the door, everyone I worked with and was at the bar said they felt cold."

"The dude had incredibly sunken eyes, pale white skin, dingy dirty hair, and visibly sharp-looking teeth. If I were to explain what a mako shark as a human would be, that’s this guy."

"He said he was passing through and was looking for 'stuff ordinary people can’t find' and then proceeded to show photos on his phone of odd areas he had been to previously. Nothing was off about the photos, but everyone I saw gave me more chills."

"Nothing was happening, no one was there, but everything had this feeling of 'I’m not supposed to be here.'"

" The dude left and asked me to follow him on Instagram, which I did. He posted last a few years ago up in Jackson Hole and said he’d be staying off for a while. Odd dude. We all were quite relieved when his cab showed up."

- Expensive_Change_893

The Doll Whisperer

"My grandpa's second wife, Angie. She was a hateful woman. I don't believe in people being 100% anything, but she was pure evil."

"She had a collection of porcelain dolls in a corner of their house when I was very young, and she would always try to talk to me through them, giving each of them their own creepy voices. One time, I touched a Pillsbury dough boy figure on her shelf, and she swatted my hand with a metal ruler."

"She was in her 70s when I was a young kid, and I'm 30 now. I heard from my aunt that she's still alive somewhere near where she lived with my grandpa (which makes me believe she is some kind of hag witch) and that she's committed insurance fraud, like, a lot."

- LepreConArtist

Constant High-Alert

​"I was at a bar and this guy walked in and immediately it felt like I was on alert. My spine turned to ice when I saw his eyes look at me, they were almost sunken into his face as if he was peeking out from behind a portrait. He moved like a cat stalking prey."

"Over time, he made his way over to me and made polite conversation, but his words felt disjointed, almost like he was translating them before speaking them. There was nothing aggressive or insulting about anything he was doing."

"In fact, he was quite polite. but everything about this guy was setting off every nerve I had. He was even smiling through most of it, but it felt as if his lips were stapled back."

- Cyanora

Reverse 'Breaking Bad'

"When I was pretty young, I was hanging out with an older friend, and I found out one of her close friends from school became a high-ranking member of a cartel. He got cancer and was allowed to sort of 'retire' from the cartel to spend the last few years with his family."

"I met him at a party of hers...He was very polite, but I had no intention of spending more time around him!"

- xain_the_id**t

Soldier Vibes

"A dude who hung out with a friend of mine back in the 1980s was a Vietnam vet, one of the advance forces guys or whatever they called them."

"He looked like he could bite the top off of a fire hydrant."

- Earthling1a

A Good Egg. Or Rock.

​"A p**sed off Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson."

"Let me explain A few years ago, I was part of a charity event with Power of Pain (a family friend who I call my aunt, Barby, owns the charity for neuropathy and other immune disorders), and funnily enough, we somehow got Dwayne Johnson as a guest (we had contacted him but didn't expect him to actually come)."

"He was a f**king great guy. Honestly, best f**king dude in the world."

"Anyway, after the event, a lot of us went to a Denny's down the road to celebrate, not expecting him to be there, though he was invited. He showed up like 20 minutes after we all got there and he was having a blast hanging out eating Pancakes."

"Unbeknownst to the rest of us, there was a domestic dispute across the Dennys, a couple who seemed like they were about to break up, but more like the guy was just an abusive a**hole screaming at his girlfriend the whole time and her just in tears."

"Dwayne caught wind of what was going on, stood up, put on his 'Rock' persona, and had a f**king screaming match with this guy. The guy was just receding further and further into his shell and eventually he just f**king left."

"Dwayne paid the girl's bill, helped her stop crying, and walked her out to her car. He then came back in with a smile and continued having a good night and finished his Pancakes."

"He's a beautiful, kind-hearted man, but if you p**s him off, he WILL make you s**t yourself. Remember, they call him 'The Rock' for a reason."

"Best night of my life. Moral of the story: Be nice to people, because if you're not, you may find yourself in a situation you just can't win."

- Ok_Experience_6877

It's easy to see how these are the people that Redditors viewed as the scariest and most intimidating people that they had met. Even if a person hasn't done terrible things, sometimes people just have a vibe about them that makes you think they have the potential, or at least the power.

yellow and green map illustration
Photo by Joshua Olsen on Unsplash

The first time I went to India on vacation to visit family, I had a terrifying experience.

I was nine years old. My grandma called my name, so I turned to face her. She told me lunch was ready and asked me to tell my brother, who was in another room. I turned around and saw a large monkey standing in the middle of the living room!

I let out a short yell but couldn't move to say anything. Luckily, my grandma saw the monkey as well. I didn't know what to do; I knew there were monkeys everywhere. I saw them in the trees. However, I never expected one to come into the house!

My grandma was able to scare it away. She closed our front door so it wouldn't happen again and explained to me monkeys sometimes liked to come into houses if they smell food, like our lunch.

Looking back on it, the experience was more interesting than anything, but nine-year-old me refused to go outside again for three days and made sure all the doors were closed and locked, not trusting monkeys not to be smart enough to use a doorknob.

I'm definitely not the only person who has had a terrifying experience in a foreign country.

Keep reading...Show less

At this point in life... what isn't scary?

I have a shock or two on the regular.

Whether it's that late night walk home alone or the thunder roar that can be heard from miles away; so many things can get the heart racing.

You hear on the news stories of stray dead bodies and people being chased by psychos.

At this point... why leave the house?

\RedditorMlltrwas hoping everyone would be willing to share some stories about the times they were left shooketh! They asked:

"What is the scariest thing you have experienced?"
Keep reading...Show less

The open road can be freeing.

While a trip to see family or a long commute can allow your mind to wander, or give you the prize viewing pleasure of a wonderful landscape, there can be a real air of mystery out on the road.
What's beyond the horizon? What's hidden behind those dark trees? Is that owl flying straight for us?
Keep reading...Show less