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Culture May 19, 2017
Sometimes fact is even scarier than fiction...
Have you ever read scary stories and thought, “Thank goodness those stories aren’t true!” Well, sometimes the creepiest of stories are the ones that happened to real people…because then you think, “This scary story could happen to me too.”
And those are exactly the kind of creepy stories we found when scouring Reddit. Ready to explore the dark side of reality? This list features scary stories about hidden cameras and photo-loving stalkers. Reddit users also reflect on the creepy stories that occurred during childhood but haunt them today. Some of these scary stories even have silver linings as the storyteller escapes from danger, or, as in one scary story, a granny stares down a local serial killer.
Whether you love watching scary movies or can barely handle a haunted house, here are 11 creepy true stories from Reddit that will have you sleeping with the lights on tonight!
Age: Not given.
Location: Home.
What Happened: “My cousin and his family (wife and infant son) had lived in their house for about 5 years. His wife left home to drop the baby off at daycare before work, but realized she had left her phone at home. Entering the house, she turned the corner to the hallway and nearly ran into the drop-down attic ladder, which was fully extended. They never used the attic and my cousin had left for work hours earlier. She quietly left the house, drove around the corner and called the police.
When the police investigated, they found a short-range transmitter connected to several cameras hidden throughout their home. The light fixture in the shower, the ceiling fan above their bed, even a pinhole in the nursery were sending videos to a nearby location. Their neighbor a few houses away had been given a key by the prior owners and installed surveillance equipment once he knew their schedule. My cousin’s wife walked in on him updating his equipment, but he forgot something at his house and left to get it when she walked in. He had been watching them for years.”
Age: Not given
Location: Waynesville, MO
What Happened: “Went to my aunt and uncle’s house one family vacation about 10 years ago. We drove from South Texas to some small town in Missouri and arrived there at 1 AM. [The] family consisted of myself, two younger sisters, mother, and father. Most of the family was hungry from the long drive and wanted to see if a McDonald’s was open. [Tired] from the long car ride, I wanted to stay at the house. Mom said one of my sisters would be staying as well. I settle down into the living room watching TV, slightly dozing off. I can remember hearing pitter-patter down the hallway and assumed my sister was just running around.
[Later,] my mom calls, asking what I wanted to eat. In the background, I can hear both my sisters arguing. Hearing a giggle somewhat behind me, I stand straight up and look around: nothing. I ask my mom if my sister ended up going with them, which she confirmed. I stood in the corner of the room till everyone got back.”
Age: 8 years old
Location: Elementary school
What happened: “During recess at school, I noticed a bunch of other kids outside a storage room yelling and warning others not to approach the door because ‘there was an eyeball staring back at you!’
I was curious because I didn’t understand what they meant, but I could see their fear was real. I remember bending down slightly so I could get a closer look inside and sure enough, there was an eyeball staring back at me. It freaked me out so much, I peed my pants on the spot.
After I had ended up at the nurse’s office because of the commotion [we] kids had created, a janitor [went[] into the room to inspect what this whole mess was about. Turns out that someone had placed a mirror against that door and the eyeball we were seeing was our own reflection!”
Age: Not given
Location: Home
What happened: “My dad works in a factory and would often have people over for dinner/etc. when I was a kid. Most of the people he brought around were pretty rough around the edges, and my dad was just trying to be loving toward them. My mom would get pretty annoyed because when you have four kids at home, you don’t bring home strange men. Finally, my mom said enough, and it ended for the most part.
Flash forward and we find out one of my dad’s coworkers and a guy he brought home a few times (and someone that gave my mom the creeps) was convicted of murdering, cutting up and putting the body of a young girl in trash bags, and dumping her in a trash can a few miles from our house. It was on a side road in a ditch. She was the exact age of my sister, and it happened in about a months time around when he was visiting. After that, my dad had no more visitors.”
Age: 8 or 9 years old.
Location: The woods in eastern Europe.
What Happened: “My cousin and I were walking through the woods. Suddenly, we saw a man standing in the bushes; he was wearing nothing but tighty-whities, dress shoes and a watch and had his back toward us. We kind of just froze there, staring at him. He must’ve heard the rustling behind him and slowly turned around. He had the creepiest smile on his face and started slowly moving toward us while making a beckoning motion with his finger. I remember being frozen with fear before turning around to look at my cousin, who was no longer there. I could only see his heels flashing in the distance as he was running away. Of course, I followed immediately, and I don’t think I’ve ever [run] that fast before or since.”
Age: 11 years old
Location: Bedroom
What Happened: “I woke up in the middle of the night to a man straddled on top of me with his hand over my mouth and nose. He told me to roll over and not scream. I rolled onto the floor and tried to scream bloody murder ( I say ‘tried’ cause when you are truly terrified, it can take a second to find your voice). My mom heard me screaming and came in and fought with the guy. He was at least 6′ she was 5’3″ [but she] scared him enough with the fighting and screaming that he took off. Never did catch him.”
Age: Not given
Location: Home
What Happened: “Somebody mailed my friend a bunch of pictures of his wife just going about her day. Some of them were taken through windows of their home. No message or anything. Just an envelope full of pics. [They called the] police and everything, but nothing ever came of it. They actually moved because of it.”
Age: Four years old
Location: Hometown
What Happened: “I was playing outside with my siblings and neighbors, and while they’re busy playing, a lady approached me and took me to her place in a nearby neighborhood. This lady was severely depressed: her husband left her after their son died. He couldn’t handle her depression, apparently. She took me to her place, fed me and gave me tons of candy for couple days. She also made me wear her deceased son’s pajamas.
At some point, she took me to buy some candy from the store. The store owner knew her, so he reported her to the police. She didn’t hurt me at all; the doctor even said I was well fed. I always think of her and pray she’s in a better place now. I even tried to go visit her when I was a college student, but her house was sold and she moved away apparently.”
Age: Occurred from age 10 to 14
Location: Not given
What Happened: “I was stalked by a 40+-year-old man from the ages of 10 till 14. My parents told me about it when I was 13. I was unaware but they were. He had been following me to school, been mailing me things, taking pictures of me, and sending my parents threatening messages in all sorts of way.
We had a panic button for in case of him invading the home. Our house was under police watch. The school had to hire a taxi company to drive me home.”
Age: Not Given
Location: South Carolina
What Happened: “We had a serial killer in SC a couple years ago. No one knew what he looked like yet, but he had already killed three people at this point. Well, my granny has lived alone since my pawpaw passed about 15 years ago. She lives at the end of a long dirt road with about 10 other families, but the closest one was about a 1/4 mile up the road. One afternoon, some random guy comes knocking on the front door of her house. My granny is a practical woman; she has never been to school because she grew up on a farm and was expected to pull her weight, but she is a smart woman.
She goes to the door but doesn’t open it (glass door). The 40ish-year-old man is there asking if he can use the phone since his car broke down. Granny doesn’t like the look of this guy…She tells him that no he can’t use the phone and [that he] needs to leave. She backs up and picks up my pawpaw’s 410 as she goes. Once he sees the shotgun, he hightails it out of there.
About a week later the cops finally catch the serial killer, and low and behold if it isn’t the same damn man.”
Age: Not given
Location: College
What Happened: “This girl I used to be in class with found out today that there’s some random dude out there who tattooed a picture of her face on his leg. She doesn’t know who he is, just that he tagged her on Instagram with a picture of the tattoo. I’d feel like it’s pretty damn creepy to have someone somewhere in the world walk around with your face on his leg.”
When you think of scary stories, you might first imagine ghosts or vampies or other supernatural creatures. However, as these creepy true stories prove, sometimes fact is even more frightening than fiction.
*These Reddit posts have been slightly edited for grammar, clarity and length.
