One of life's most unfortunate moments is when we feel our lives are genuinely in danger.
These horrific moments can involve the behavior of people with malicious intentions or just being at the wrong place and time.
Even though many people live to share their harrowing stories, the trauma doesn't necessarily go away completely.
But all anyone who's experienced a terrifying ordeal can do to find peace is to count their blessings and be grateful they are survivors.
Curious to hear from strangers online, Redditor Fearless-surfur-ee asked:
"What was the scariest incident happened with you?"
These Redditors experienced heart-stopping false alarms.
Wrong Target
"Half a dozen masked men broke into my bedroom, threatened me and my girlfriend, realised they had the wrong house, apologised and left. Edit - I told the full story here a while back."
– The-Go-Kid
Witness At A Shopping Mall
"Similar thing happened to my Aunt. She witnessed an attack at a shopping centre (on going disagreement between 2 well known families) and was threatened. A few days later one of the older family members approached her in her driveway and apologised profusely for the younger persons behaviour and offered her compensation. She was so scared she just said no thanks and he left."
– pokerdotts
Sometimes, you gotta listen to your gut.
Unplanned Detour
"Wife and I took a dark exit towards out neighborhood. Whole backseat full of bags cause we went shopping at the mall. There’s a red light at the intersection once you get off the exit and we pull up to this tinted oldsmobile. They were in the right lane to go straight or turn right and we were in the left lane to turn left."
"Nobody is around, maybe 10 at night. I turn left and look in my rear view and it’s the car that was next to us a bit back. I pull in my driveway and just had a really weird feeling, so I told my wife I’m gonna reverse and drive around the block. She thinks it’s weird as hell, but as we are reversing, this dude is walking towards us from that Oldsmobile parked around the corner. I dip the f**k out and make it look like I was just turning around and drove like a mile away before heading back."
"Just had this gut feeling, man. Who knows what would have happened? But it was scary as f'k, nonetheless."
– One_pop_each
A Tragic Stop
"Friend borrowed dad’s Benz to take wife on anniversary date. He stopped for flowers and was followed home by someone thinking he was wealthy. He was shot dead in his driveway in what turned out to be a gang initiation; you did the right thing."
– busjockey
These Redditors looked down the barrel of a gun...and lived to tell their story.
Fearless
"Was at a train station that was empty and I was sitting down waiting for a train and a man walks over with a bag, opens it and takes out a shotgun and points it at me and I just stare at him, he then says 'you're not scared are you' then puts the shotgun back in the bag then walks out of the train station."
"Actually not sure if that was the scariest or weirdest or if I was even scared."
– XenomorphXx121
The Right Answer
"Reminds me of the time a guy put a gun to my neck and said, 'What would you do if I pull the trigger right now.'"
"I was in a completely apathetic state of mind at that time anyway and said, 'Not much I can do, but I'll haunt you.'"
– lazerchin
These Redditors experienced medical emergencies.
Lucky Patient
"Last week had a heart attack after almost recovering from chemotherapy."
"I asked the nurse if I was going to die and she said I’m in the right place and they will look after me. Then I got more scared then I ever have before"
"I should not have survived but I did."
– Fistandantalus
Urgent Appointment
"The scan came back and we found a mass. We'd like you to come in to talk to the doctor today or tomorrow. You should see if someone can drive for you as you may be upset afterwards"
"Can I come in next week, I have a trip planned?"
"The doctor says you should come in today anytime and we will clear an appointment for you."
"Luckily that doctor kicked a**. 3 years post-surgery. Scans are clean in August and I move into the "only 10% chance of reoccurrence" bracket."
– Meet_the_Meat
Mysterious Illness
"Felt sick, kind of like the flu. Felt completely fine in the morning, but got worse as the day went on. It was the middle of the night and I was up with my husband and our new 6 week old baby. I was pumping breastmilk."
"Next thing I know, I’m waking up to EMTs surrounding me on my bed telling me not to move or sit up. My heart rate was incredibly high and blood pressure incredibly low. They took me to the hospital and no one knew what was wrong with me for a while. They kept asking me what drugs I took. I kept telling them nothing (which is true). I just had a baby, the biggest 'drug' I was taking was Tylenol. They didn’t believe me for a while."
"I couldn’t remember a lot of things at this point. I could barely even remember my own kid’s name. I couldn’t tell them who the president was or what year it was when they asked. It was a weird feeling to have memory missing. Kind of like having lost some puzzle pieces. Talking was also kind of difficult."
"After a BUNCH of tests, turns out I had a UTI so bad that I went into septic shock and my kidneys were shutting down. Didn’t know I had a UTI because I was still healing from childbirth and I am pretty asymptomatic when it comes to UTIs. I don’t feel pain when I get them. Spent a few days in the ICCU. Was extra scary considering my brand new baby was at home and I wasn’t and there was a chance I wouldn’t make it home at all."
"In the end, I thankfully made a full recovery."
"Not as intense as some of these other stories, but please don’t sleep on a UTI guys. Sepsis is no joke."
– mxbear
The last time I truly feared for my life was when I was at a party and a fight between two drunk partygoers turned into a Swiss army knife fight.
I'm not kidding.
A couple of my friends and I jumped off the second floor balcony and got chased in the parking lot.
After some fumbling with the car keys, my buddy managed to get five of us crammed into his car and the perpetrator started pounding on the rear window with his fists and bloodying it up from smashing his knuckles onto the glass.
The police came just in time. Thank you annoyed neighbor who called the cops on us for our blood-curdling screams disturbing the peace.
People Break Down Which Villains Were Terrifying Because They Were Totally Right
Even though we always root for the hero in film, television and books, it's often the villain which lingers in our memory.
From Captain Hook to Regina George, it's hard not to admire their calculating, duplicitous ways, not to mention their often snazzy attire.
Interestingly, the villains who often terrify us the most are those that we find ourselves relating to in some capacity.
If it doesn't necessarily justify their actions, in the end, being aware of what led them to become what they are makes us all the more fascinated, and even more terrified of them.
Sometimes, we might even find ourselves flat out rooting for them... Is Miranda Priestley really the Devil in The Devil Wears Prada?
"What villain was terrifying because they were right?"
Deep Down, His Mission Was Noble
"Magneto is my favorite villain of all time."
"Every time his motives are brought to light I get that 'yeah, I kinda get it' moment."- IdentifiesAsATroll
"Magneto."
"The holocaust survivor, not wanting his species genocided."- Chasingtheimprobable
Progress? How Awful!
"None of you said the most terrifying one."
"Mojo Jojo from the Powerpuff girls."
"He wanted to bring free energy and advanced technology to the people."
"And in one episode he actually did."
"He made the world an amazing place."
"And then the Powerpuff girls ruined it all."- TheMustardisBad
cartoon network GIFGiphyCan A Hero Really Be A "Menace"?
"Mr. Wilson from 'Dennis the Menace'."- Monsterenergyboi
Sharing?!?! How Awful!
"Stevie from Wizards of Waverly Place."
"Her entire goal was to stop families from giving up their magic to just one person in the family."
"Like…we’re really supposed to be rooting against her?"
"It just seemed super out of character for Alex to go against that plan."- LunarRabbit18
A Lapse In The Force...
"Count Dooku just straight up told Obi-Wan that the Sith control the Senate."- dmatred501
christopher lee GIFGiphyEven More Ironic Today...
"Red Queen 'Resident Evil'."
"I have locked down this facility to prevent a world ending virus, please could you 'good guys' pay attention and not blow holes in the doors."- Not_invented-Here
Bees Have A Way Of Riling People Up!
"Ken from 'The Bee Movie'."
"I too would go absolutely berserk if a talking bee stole my girlfriend and gaslit me into thinking I was crazy."- _shes_a_jar
Villain, Or Just Responsible Parents?
"Aria’s parents on 'Pretty Little Liars'."
"They’re villanized for not letting their high school daughter date her teacher?"- clarabelle220
Pretty Little Liars Love GIFGiphySeriously, She Broke Into Their House And Damaged Their Property!
"The bears from goldilocks and the three bears."- throwaway_0x90
Sometimes the best part of rewatching your favorite movies, particularly after a significant lapse of time, is noticing things you didn't notice before.
Such as the fact that Ferris Bueller''s Ed Rooney might have only been making sure that a mischievous socio-path didn't get away with constantly feigning illness.
Or that The Parent Trap's Meredith Blake's anger might have come from the fact that she was nearly drowned by a pair of 11-year-olds.
Making one question, who is the real villain here?
History is full of infamous disasters one can't imagine experiencing in their lifetimes.
The same can probably be said of our ancestors if they became privy to some of the horrific events that have occurred in our modern era.
Which are the most frightening?
That is exactly what Redditor dat_b_o_i asked strangers on the internet in the subReddit titled:
"What is an terrifying historical fact that you know?"
Remnants from the past still pose risks.
Undetonated
"There is a missing hydrogen bomb somewhere off the beach where my family vacations..."
– paulfromatlanta
"Tybee Island AKA Savannah Beach"
'The Tybee Island mid-air collision was an incident on February 5, 1958, in which the United States Air Force lost a 7,600-pound (3,400 kg) Mark 15 nuclear bomb in the waters off Tybee Island near Savannah, Georgia, United States. During a practice exercise, an F-86 fighter plane collided with the B-47 bomber carrying the bomb. To protect the aircrew from a possible detonation in the event of a crash, the bomb was jettisoned. Following several unsuccessful searches, the bomb was presumed lost somewhere in Wassaw Sound off the shores of Tybee Island.'
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1958_Tybee_Island_mid-air_collision
Stranded Samples
"when the USSR collapsed, multiple nuclear weapons and boxes full of vials of smallpox were lost."
– User Deleted
Nuclear Weapons Gaffe
"Since 1950, there have been 32 'Broken Arrow' incidents, out of which 6 of these warheads were not recovered or accounted for. It remains unknown how many such incidents the Soviet Union had."
"Sleep well tonight, my friends."
– Raetekusu
These fascinating historical facts might be unfamiliar to most people.
Catchy Beat
"The dancing plague of 1518, or dance epidemic of 1518, was a case of dancing mania that occurred in Strasbourg, Alsace (modern-day France), in the Holy Roman Empire from July 1518 to September 1518. Somewhere between 50 and 400 people took to dancing for weeks."
– ponch1620
Kids In Battle
"during the paraguayan war, paraguay sent 3500 poorly armed children between 9 to 15 yo, wounded soldiers and old men to face brazilian army (20 thousand men), because most of paraguayan combatants were killed. the date of this battle is now children's day in Paraguay."
– anylifeonmars_
The Next Step Could Be Your Last
"Near Mt St Helens, in the Gifford Pinchot National Forest, and before the volcano erupted in 1980, there were areas where you were not allowed off the footpaths. This was because Douglas Firs, which can reach 200ft, were buried in ash in prior eruptions, then rotted away. So you could step on a relatively thin layer of old ash, break through, and fall any number of feet into what amounted to a crevasse or a well."
– quikdogs
The following examples depicted some of the most disturbing ways people have perished.
Watery Grave
"A lot of sailors survived the bombing of Pearl Harbor, but were trapped in their sunken ships. There was no way to rescue them. People had to listen helplessly to the men banging on the inside of the hulls for days until they gradually went quiet."
– heatherbyism
"Humanity's Greatest Horrors"
"I went to the Killing Fields and was depressed beyond belief but also became intensely aware of the significance of being at the site of one of humanity's greatest horrors."
– zencontentdude
Ominously Beautiful Locale
"This reminds me very much of the suicide cliffs in Saipan. Wild story. Basically during World War Two, Saipan was occupied by the Japanese. When word got out that the United States army was coming to the island the Japanese soldiers began telling everyone that Americans will come eat them."
"The people of Saipan and Japanese living there started to throw themselves off these cliffs with their children and families. I forget the exact number but it was a massive amount of people."
"Here is a link"
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suicide_Cliff
"While I was working in Saipan it was a crazy place to be. There is a wall with a ton of names on it as a memorial to those who died. Incredibly beautiful scenery with just a horrible past."
– thingsthatgomoo
Buried Alive
"in the warsaw ghettos they would pile up body’s of people that might have not even been dead. someone who collapsed could have been tossed to the side and be covered with other bodies, slowly crushing them and suffocating them. until they did actually die."
– Wise_Stock
The thread was full of some of the most frightening events in history that still haunts many people today.
These appalling and horrific events reinforce the significance of why we should learn from our past so as to never experience what previous generations have suffered.
If you or someone you know is struggling, you can contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255).
To find help outside the United States, the International Association for Suicide Prevention has resources available at https://www.iasp.info/resources/Crisis_Centres/
Many people put on a brave face in fearful times, and those are the people whom we often look to for protection.
However, it doesn't mean the brave are without their vulnerable moments.
Everyone–regardless of how they present themselves–has at one time experienced their share of terrifying situations.
They just don't open up about them to save face. Thankfully, for Reddit, the forum was open to discussion.
Curious to hear examples from strangers online, Redditor Wonderful-Wash-2145 asked:
"Have you ever been scared to the core of your soul? What’s the story?"
Some people have wildly vivid imaginations.
Lucky for them, they remained as such.
The Tall Man In The Dark
"years ago when I still lived at my parents house, I was sleeping on the couch in the unfinished basement with my girlfriend at the time. I woke up to her shaking me awake with absolute panic in her voice whispering that there was a very tall man across the basement watching us. Hearing that made my blood run cold so i slowly peeked over the back of the couch and sure enough, I could just barely make out the shape of an EXTREMELY tall man facing us in the darkness. He was so tall that his head was close to the ceiling. I whispered to my girlfriend at the time that I was going to jump up and turn the light on which had a string that you needed to pull to turn it on, and right when I did that she needed to use the light to run to the stairs and get out of the basement. So after a second of psyching myself up for whatever came next, I counted to 3 and jumped off the couch and turned the light on."
"I finally got a proper look at the guy. It was my dads f'king scuba suit that he hung from the rafters to let it dry. My hands were shaking for a half hour after that but we both got a good laugh out of it….eventually."
– Scuzzball666
The Pale Figure
"I was 11 maybe 12 years old. Dad worked late most nights so I was home alone per usual. Home however was a ranch house far out of town in a Florida pine forest. It was late and dark. The doors were all French style glass with no blinds or curtains. Outside those glass doors was only a hauntingly dark tree line, dimly lit by the moon. Leaving all the lights on and a TV gave some comfort but this meant it was much easier to see in than it was for me to see out."
"On this night I had to get something out of the 'back room,' this was our name for a garage that was absorbed into the house. The concrete floors and unfinished walls gave the room a cold air. As I’m searching for what I need, I glance up to see a large bleach-white figure standing outside the glass door. 6 feet tall with no head and no expression. Just white hair draped in front like a ring girl. This was the night I learned there was another option besides fight or flight. It was freeze. I stood frozen in fear, as if the blood in my body just drained. Unable to do anything until my brain recognized it was a horses a**. The horse got out of its pen and was chilling under the carport, with its a** against the glass door."
– LElige
Sinister Sounds
"Cleaning out an abandoned meat packing two-story celler that had been used as a brothel. Me and my coworker were opening this steel door that was bolted shut. It apparently led to the old boiler room. When we peeled it open, this high pitched shrieking, screeching noise started coming toward us in the dark like someone was dragging a steel chair on concrete. My blood turned to absolute ICE in my veins."
"I've faced down guns before and had my share of awful experiences, but the TERROR that grabbed my brain was unreal. We both turned and bolted up those stairs so fast there was probably smoke coming off our shoes. No idea what made the noise, but we didn't go back downstairs."
– thepadre27
What Can't Be Unseen
"I was in a prison in an africian country with a septic wound in my back and the malaria made me see things."
– rowenaravenclaw0
Some horrors are not entirely imagined.
Escaping The Wreckage
"Got into a head on collision when a dude swerved into my lane. When I came to I saw smoke coming from the engine and my driver side door was smashed in so I couldn’t open it. Was so scared I couldn’t think straight to try another door so I pulled myself out of the broken window in my drivers side door. Terrifying to think you are trapped in a burning car."
– BitchesBeSnacking
Meeting A Murderer
"I was almost murdered. It's a long story but I'll try to paraphrase it."
"When I was a senior in high school a girl in my neighborhood went missing and about a month later was found dead. During that time her adoptive father was contacting people left and right. Apparently he had his suspicions about my ex boyfriend of 3 years who dated the missing girl in middle school. Adoptive father comes to my house to talk to me about ex and never really asked me anything about him but he talked about himself the whole time and how he was in a white supremacy gang and kills 12 people a year. After he left my house he kept trying to get me to meet with him alone without my mom present to talk to me more about my ex because he felt like I was leaving stuff out in front of my mom. I told him no, I wasn't comfortable and he just kept insisting. It got to the point where I had to have security walk me to and from my car at work and school."
"Adoptive father ends up getting arrested on unrelated charges and the detectives come and talk to me to figure out what he said to me etc. They told me to stay away from him and that he is dangerous. They pulled my mom away to speak privately to her and I didn't find out til I was in college that they told her that they think he murdered the girl and that he was planning on murdering me and blaming it on my ex that he went crazy and started murdering all his ex girlfriends."
"It's been 7 years since this happened and the adoptive father was just convicted of murdering his daughter in February. But, I'm always terrified that one of his 'brothers' are watching me since I testified against him."
– lexyann03
Lost At Sea
"Sucked farther and farther out to sea on my bodyboard after sunset while surfing triple overhead waves, just as the fogbank rolled in obscuring the coastline- and the direction I needed to swim to get home."
"Took a couple hours in near dark open ocean to land a couple miles up the coast, guided solely by the faint, faraway string of a few streetlights and headlights that broke though the fog."
"Every splash I heard behind me was definitely a great white shark. I'd panic paddle whenever there was a big splash behind me (again, I was in 20 foot seas. this happened constantly) until I could regain my calm center and try to drop my heart rate, the whole while thinking about how all that fast paddling I did probably just attracted a shark."
"This was near San Francisco, lost at sea in great white breeding grounds while looking like a seal on a winter night, in horrendous conditions. It's not easy landing on a tiny strip of beach when twelve foot waves are dumping onto dry sand and the current is ripping at a decent pace... two miles away, I landed safely."
"Slept like a baby, waking up screaming every two hours."
– DAT_DROP
Encounter In The Woods
"Met a bear cub walking through the forest. It was 10 ft away from me, and was curious so was walking towards me. Couldn't see it's Mom. Just slowly backed away and kept walking backwards for probably half a mile."
– summertime_taco
Unstable Family Member
"Long story short, I had a family member who suffered a psychotic break and threatened to kill certain family members and make others watch as well as kill my mother, kidnap my sister and me and raise us as his own. From the time that he was released from the mental hospital until the day that he died I was terrified. Used my phone to watch behind me while I walked home from school and never answered the door while I was home alone."
– EmilyGram12
Maritime Anxiety
"Hit a mountain on a submarine at 250 feet and 6 knots."
"Hit it a second time with the rudder and emergency blew to the surface."
"Port side ballast tanks check valves froze shut until I hit them with a rubber mallet."
"My fifth day at sea."
– I_Am_Penguini
Missing Mom
"When I saw my mom in the ICU. She was fine one day, went to the ER the next, had 3 surgeries, wound up being put on a ventilator twice and developed a lethal infection that wasn't responding to treatment. She developed ARDS. Her heart was stopping every night."
"One time I was there and saw it happen and that's when I started to really think there wasn't going to be a way out for her. I fought the staff pretty hard about this but I realized she is basically being tortured at that point for nothing. They took her off the vent, gave her heavy doses of morphine to stop air hunger, and she died in front of me back in March. She was 60 so not particularly old. I turned 30 a couple weeks afterward."
"I miss her. We were very very close and lived together and now I am pretty much alone in the world. She was a powerful woman and I did not expect her to leave like that or so soon. But she had always told me 'If I get so old I can't wipe my own ass just throw me off a bridge.' (I also miss her sense of humor)"
"So I hope that what transpired was more preferable than winding up permanently and severely disabled if she could have survived all that damage--she would have absolutely and utterly hated that."
–
ThemChecks
Even though their lives were not threatened, observing someone on the brink of death was a horrific ordeal for these Redditors.
The Student Who Was Not Entirely Present
"When I was new to teaching (HS), I was being observed by a principal. The class was being mostly good, but this one student was head down sleeping. I called his name, no response, so I went over to wake him up. I touched his arm and he just fell over, yellow foamy drool everywhere. He had Over dosed, thank God the principal was there with their walkie to call for help while I did what first aid I knew. Student survived- but I was so scared because I wasn’t sure how to help, or if my helping was hurting. Its the feeling of being utterly powerless and incompetent when someone’s life is in your hands."
– rockstoneshellbone
Wide Asleep
"Went into my then 2 year old nephew's room to wake him up for the day. He was in his crib laying in a kind of weird posture, with his eyes wide open staring off at nothing. I figured he was awake already and thought 'haha he looks dead...' to myself, and said 'Good morning Matthew!' and his eyes didn't move to look at me. I said 'Matthew?' and got closer to the crib and the way he looked was worse up close, just unfocused dead eyes looking at nothing, body limp."
"I shook him gently, then harder, saying 'Matthew? Matthew?! MATTHEW?!' and when I yelled his name his eyes suddenly focused and he smiled at me and stretched like he often does when he first wakes up. Little f'ker was asleep with his eyes open! It was only a few seconds but I swear my blood turned to ice, was never so scared in my goddamn life. No idea what caused it and he never did it again!"
– notdead_luna
Dad's Brush With Death
"I was about to fall asleep in my bedroom (I was 16 at the time so it's a while ago). Suddenly my dad calls me, which is weird considering it was 2 in the morning and my dad never calls me because we're literally in the same house. My dad tells me to come downstairs because he doesn't feel very well, so I do. My dad is rarely sick so I started worrying. When I came downstairs, he was drenched in sweat and held a hand clutching to his heart, making weird noises in pain. When I sat down beside him, he told me he called an ambulance. Then he went quiet, and around half a minute later he just said 'Can you hold my hand.'"
"It terrified me because it felt like he was making sure to say goodbye in case he died. It took longer than it should've for the ambulance to arrive, and my dads condition only got worse and worse. When they finally arrived, they were all very calm, but suddenly there was a change. They did an EKG on the spot and suddenly started hurrying around with bags of liquid and needles and monitors around my living room, and they even told me to hold stuff and carry things for them. I tried to keep my composure, but I was shaking in terror. I overheard them saying that he was having a heart attack."
"They asked me to call my mom (I lived alone with my dad at the time), so I tried but she didn't pick up. I told them she didn't pick up and they basically said 'Okay, take care of yourself' and left with my dad."
"My dad was admitted to the hospital and ended up surviving the heart attack with minor complications, but I was left alone at home for 5 days straight. I was 16 ffs, and no one did the slightest effort to make sure that I was alright. I didn't sleep, I didn't eat. I just waited for my dad to come home. My dad is my best friend, he's the only one I have, and I catch myself going to check on him during the night just to make sure he's alive. I'm terrified every day."
– y0ghurtl0ver
Nothing will ever compare to the fear of your life in danger.
Ghosts, ghouls and goblins, come at me, I can handle it. But being hit in a side-swipe collision at night by an 18-wheeler that raced off afterwards after swerving into my lane still terrifies me.
I count my blessings everyday after surviving and I'm reminded of the harsh reality that our lives can be zapped from us at any given time.
Live out loud, folks. You never know when the time comes when you will meet with your maker.
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Never miss another big, odd, funny or heartbreaking moment again.
They always say that whatever falls out of your mouth when your drunk or high is the truth.
The next day we always try to combat that lie with an "I don't know what I said that!" But... it's the truth.
Once the intoxicated brain feels no boundaries, all the secrets tend to be freed.
Some of those secrets good, most, bad.
It does prove that we're all hiding a lot of ourselves.
Maybe we should be coming to terms with our lives in sober hours.
Redditor sencecore wanted to hear about the secrets they've been told that have left them SHOOKETH!
They asked:
"[Serious] What terrifying confession has someone told you while intoxicated?"
Situations like this thread are the reasons I drink at home and alone. I only cry to a mirror.
Betrayal
"My dad told me while he was drunk that the reason him and my mom divorced is because she slept with his best friend (who is now my step dad and they have my brother). I nearly freaking fainted as I spent the last 20 years being lied to as I had no idea."
Remarkable_Echo4224
Shocked Oh No GIF by Yêu LuGiphyRon
"Gay man dying of AIDS said I could charge my entire bar tab to his credit card cause he was going to die soon. It was me and a few friends watching football so our tab was probably +$200; but I was talking to him for awhile before he said this. Think he was lonely and scared."
"So we just watched football with him for the rest of the afternoon. Made him feel welcome and normal at least for a while. Just wanted what the rest of us do; to not feel alone and that someone cares. I believe his name was Ron."
Panther81277
He Had To
"Coworker told me he killed a dude. The other guy had a bad reputation for being a violent a**hole and made it pretty clear that only one of them would be leaving the room alive. My coworker decided that he would prefer to be the one who didn’t die. He did turn himself in and spent some time in prison."
goodolewhasisname
In the Driveway...
"Someone told me that their dad would go out intoxicated and sleep on their porch. One night their mom went out searching for him because he wasn’t there. Got in the car and pulled out of the driveway. Turns out, their dad fell asleep on the driveway and was ran over my the car, killed."
"I don’t know if the story is true, don’t even know the person who told me. Just some random dude who went out drinking sometime later that week. Still think about that story from time to time, really stuck with me."
Jekkelstein
Damn Diego
"Ages back I was helping a blackout drunk coworker to his apartment etc, he was needing to be carried one second and sprinting across the parking lot the next. As we’re getting close to his room he starts breaking down 'why did I hit him? I shouldn’t have run etc.' turns out Drunk Diego is pretty convinced he hit a kid with his car one day. Sober Diego has no idea what he was talking about."
hatsnatcher23
Steve Harvey Reaction GIFGiphyWe really are holding onto some deep, dark secrets. I feel like I can't trust anyone.
In Cold Blood...
"A friend of mine likes to drink, a lot, but he knows he has a limit because when he goes over it he becomes very talkative. He also doesn't date, at all, and for a long time we all wondered why. He's a good looking guy, he's really nice, he's fun to be around (when he isn't drinking, anyway), never wants to date."
"Well, one time he got absolutely s**t-faced and I found out why. It turns out that when we was a kid, he saw his aunt murder his uncle in cold blood. Ever since, he's been terrified of being alone with a woman and feels like he could never truly be safe around them."
TheTrueGoldenboy
Bad Mom
"My mom told me she wished she aborted me when I was 8 or 9 or so. She's doing better now after a long struggle with alcoholism. our relationship is much better and when I told her this a few months ago she hugged me tightly and keeps apologizing to this day."
M0rbidea
WAR
"My grandpa never talked about his Korean War service. He had severe PTSD though. Would wake up in the middle of the night screaming. Then one night he came home absolutely crapfaced, laid down on the couch, then told me that his entire unit had been wiped out before his eyes. He was the sole survivor and got caught behind enemy lines but made it out. He was their sergeant and blamed himself. He eventually got into veteran's therapy in his 60s though."
HoraceBenbow
Christmas
"I drunkenly confessed to my aunt at Christmas about how unhappy I’ve been feeling for the last two years and that I’ve got a bit of a coke addiction. The phone call from my sister the next morning was awkward as hell to have I’m currently two weeks cold turkey and today has been rough one. Reading these comments but and having people dm me advice or just generally asking if I’m okay has given me the motivation I’ve needed to keep at it."
Think-Rope-6706
The Mountains
"My uncle said that my grandfather wasn’t exactly a caring/loving father because of working in the coal mines. He said my pap was terrified everyday because he didn’t know if he was coming home or not cause he’d hear the mountains above him crack."
Weak_Carpenter_7060
drunk russian GIFGiphyOff the Coast
"I was at a bar one night in an affluent town. An old guy next to me started talking about his sailing days. He had a 60 foot sailboat and used to sail all over North and South America. His story was from the mid-1980's. He said one night he was anchored near an island off the coast of Venezuela. He was with his girlfriend and they had just fallen asleep, when he heard a bump."
"At first, he didn't think much of it. Barely noticed it, but decided to check it out. He left the sleeping berth and, like in most sailboats, there are a set of steep stairs to climb to get from the cabin to the aft deck. He said he always kept a pistol holstered and hanging from the side of the stair rail. As an afterthought, he grabbed his pistol as he was climbing the stairs."
"Once he was about halfway out on deck, he saw a man coming over the railing with an automatic weapon. Like an assault rifle. AR15 or something like that. He said he put 2 rounds into the guy and he fell back over the railing. He ran over and looked down. The guy had fallen into his boat and there was another guy there also armed with an assault rifle."
"He said he shot that guy a couple of times, pulled up anchor, and got out of there. He said that pirate activity was not unheard of around there and people like this would board your boat, tie you up and take everything. Then they would torch the boat with you on it. The bump he had heard was the other boat coming up aside his boat. He said that was his last visit to South America."
teksmith
The Past
"Not terrifying, more… depressing. A few years ago my dad came to me while he was a bit tipsy and tried to talk to me about my depression (back then it was very new to us and it was a struggle to open up about it) when out of the blue he starts sobbing. Keep in mind I had never seen my dad cry before."
"He tells me that him and my mom met while she was a stripper and he was a bartender at the same club, that he always regretted where they came from (they also abused drugs before they got pregnant with me) and how he wished he could take the pain away from me and deal with it himself, because he knew how it felt. He talked about how he was so desperate to make sure our family was financially stable and happy, that he would have done anything to take the depression away."
"Before that, I’d only ever seen him as a slightly annoying dad and didn’t bond with him much - after, though, I took the time to really get to know him as more than just my dad. Now he’s my best friend. In a way, him being tipsy that afternoon and opening up to me is the reason I have such a healthy relationship with him. :)"
duckwithaboater
THE GOOFBALL...
"Freshman year of college, among all the new friends I made that year, there was one guy who was always a goofball. Very laidback, casual, down for whatever. The biggest red flag we got from him was that whenever people were drinking and hanging out, he would always essentially black out."
"He drank way too much and would kind of spaghetti-noodle his way around the party. While also intoxicated, after the party had winded down one night, a few people and I asked him why he always goes so damn hard. While drooping his head a ton, sloshing around, and slurring everything, he told us about how a few months ago (the summer before college started), his best friend called him."
"They lived in a small town by the beach, and his friend asked him to come meet him to watch the sunset by the water. He biked over there, sat down, and they talked for a while, everything seemed fine. Then his friend took out a pistol and shot himself in the head, killing himself instantly."
"Apparently my friend had to call the police while covered in blood, brains, and skull fragments, just totally in shock. And then a few weeks later he went off to college a few states away, still in shock and unable to sleep or focus on anything. He didn’t remember telling us that story, and I don’t think any of us wanted to bring it up."
"His drinking habits didn’t change until he was about to graduate, by which point he started going to therapy, got a job right after graduation, and seems to be doing better in the years since (thank God)."
Soulfighter56
I changed my locks...
"A few nights ago a guy who I knew had a thing for me pretty much admitted to stalking me while he was drunk. He told me he walks by my room and considers barging in. (We live in student housing.)"
staring stanley kubrick GIFGiphy"He admitted to looking through my desk. (I've never let him in my room, so this would mean he let himself in.) He admitted to stealing a flower hair clip I wear. And even more creepy, it reappeared in my room the next day. Needless to say, I changed my locks. But yeah. That's pretty terrifying to me."
SouthernYankeeWitch
"family Italian"
"Not 100% sure if the man was drunk or just needing to get it off his chest. Years ago I waited tables in a 'family Italian' restaurant. A family of 12 came in, had wine, appetizers, dinner and dessert. After the dinner the eldest man at the table pulled me aside and asked to pay."
"We walked over to the register, he says thank you the service and food were great. Ends up tipping around 40% I was blown away, said thank you probably 20 times. Anyway he waited till no one else was around. He leans close and says 'I was special forces in Vietnam, I had over 300 confirmed kills.' 'In one instance I had 50 kills in one mission holding off enemy forces.'"
"'We did some really sadistic sh*t over there.' 'I've never told anyone about this.' I was just so stunned by the randomness, and frankly causal way he said it. I couldn't even think of anything to say so I blurted out a forced thank you for your service, with an awkward shoulder pat."
The_Boregonian
"return the favor"
"They didn't tell me this while they were drunk, but I think it fits here. I am a volunteer at a nursing home. When one of the female residents was close to death, she confided it in me this. One time her husband cheated on her with the neighbor's wife. When the neighbor's husband found out he was very upset and was going to physically hurt her husband."
"They worked out a deal where the neighbor's husband would not hurt her husband if he was able to 'return the favor.' In essence her husband agreed to let the neighbor have her in order to save himself a righteous beating. It gets worse, she later became pregnant and told her husband for the rest of his life that it was his, but she honestly believed it to be the neighbor's."
"Her whole life she was carrying this burden about her son and what her husband had done to her, both with the cheating on her and with the trading her off like a cow. It was truly a heartbreaking conversation."
Maddy_Daddy
No Cares Given
"I had a colleague tell me 20 drinks in she was not only suicidal, but that she had unsuppressed HIV and was knowingly transmitting it to partners she was sleeping with and not telling them because she 'didn’t care about people.' I’m an HIV case manager so this was absolutely horrific for me."
JWWolfy
Boot Camp
"My brother joined the Army in his early-20s following a very acrimonious divorce. Honestly, looking back we should have had harassment charges brought on his ex and her family. It had sent him spiraling into a deep depression and he wanted to get out of town and try to build a new life and he'd always wanted to join the service so he signed his papers for the Army."
"He got really drunk the night before the day he was to report to the hotel near the airport where he and his other recruits would fly out to Oklahoma where they'd be doing Boot Camp and told me that he was looking forward to Basic because he'd either do well and graduate and get to go somewhere far away from our town, or maybe during grenade practice he'd just keep holding the grenade after pulling the pin and it would all be other. Either way, he said, all of his problems would be solved and we'd get life insurance out of it."
"Up until then I'd had no idea just how bad he was doing mentally and emotionally. Fortunately he did well at Basic Training, got a bunch of commendation when he graduated. He'd also been dating a really nice girl before he left and he ended up marrying her when he got out and for three years they were very happy together, until she passed away in 2020."
carmelacorleone
And now he's a butcher...
"Was chilling with an older dude with whom i recently started working as a butcher in a grocery store. A couple of beers down and he starts telling me he's been in prison for 17 years. Came out 2 years ago and it's his first ever job at 64 years old. I got curious and asked him what happened if it wasn't too private. Without hesitation, he simply answered " i cut him down with an axe this piece of crap." And now he's a butcher. Dude must really like his job i guess lmao."
Well if this isn't a PSA for sobriety, I don't know what is. We all have a lot to share. Find a priest or a therapist.
If you or someone you know is struggling, you can contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255).To find help outside the United States, the International Association for Suicide Prevention has resources available at https://www.iasp.info/resources/Crisis_Centres/
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