10 Childhood Stories That Still Haunt People to This Day

Our childhoods shape us in ways we don’t always recognize—some memories bring warmth and nostalgia, while others linger like shadows, refusing to fade. Here are 10 stories that still linger in people’s memories.

• This happened when I was about 12, and it stuck with me my entire life. I woke up in the middle of the night to find a shadow standing at the foot of my bed. At first, I thought it was just a trick of the light, but when I blinked, the figure was gone. To this day, I still don’t know if it was real or just a dream.

• Was sleeping in my room, which had an insanely creepy, dark corner. One night I woke up to hear a very deep growly breath coming from that corner. Breathing in and out. In and out.
  I was staring at the corner as the darkness got bigger and bigger, then, BOOM, I woke up... Only to hear that same deep growly breath. Breathing in and out. In and out.
  I was utterly frozen in fear. Until the loudly snoring pug nestled between my legs gave a twitch and I realized where the noise was actually coming from. Still scares/relieves me to this day! @ibrarylivin42 / Reddit

• [Edited] One time my brother, his friend, and I were walking around this industrial buildings near home. The windows on one building were green, and you couldn’t see through clearly, but you could see silhouettes.
  We saw this guy just yelling and screaming inside and what looked like tables with jars and vials. We all thought it was a scientist doing experiments. So we ran away. @Excellent_Editor_501 / Reddit

• When I was 8 years old, I was playing in my room in my parent’s house. I heard a closet door open in another room. I thought I was alone upstairs, so I went and check who was there. And when I walked into the room, I saw a little boy (younger than I was at that time) standing in the middle of the room.
  I shouted at him, “Hey! You!” but there was no movement. I ran downstairs and my mom (who heard me yell) came upstairs with me, but there was nobody in the room. To this day I wonder what it was. @Th3_Accountant / Reddit

• Was sleeping one night in my room by myself a couple years back at my grandma’s house when suddenly I was awoken by being drenched in water. I knew no one was home since they had all went camping while I stayed home to play video games. I noticed the empty water bottle with no cap next to my game setup about 10ft away. I turned all the lights on and didn’t sleep after that. @projent / Reddit

• [Edited] It all started when the teenage daughter of friends stayed the night here. She and my girlfriend wanted to watch a horror movie. I felt like the movie was too scary for her age.
  Later that evening, when we were laying in bed, we heard a knocking on our bedroom door. We assumed it was the girl, for whom the horror movie was too scary. But when my gf went to open the bedroom door, the hallway was empty and the girl was asleep in her room.@Th3_Accountant / Reddit
  

• I was 3-4 at the time. Had earlier bedtime then all my older sisters. Always had an overactive imagination.
  I was in bed and I heard a ’Mwahaha’ in a very deep, scary tone. Couldn’t tell where it was from. I was absolutely terrified, screamed/cried so much that I temporarily lost hearing. None of my sisters confessed to this day. @damargemirad / Reddit
  

• [Edited] I sleep on my chest, often with my arms under my pillow. When I was young, I woke up in the middle of the night and felt like I had been pinned to my bed at my left shoulder... I swiped around with my right hand and grabbed... something.
  It was cold and clammy, about the circumference of a human arm. It wasn’t my arm. I leapt out of bed, hit the lights. Alone, look under the bed, nothing. Under the pillow, nothing. @Controlled01 / Reddit

• I had an imaginary friend named Skell. My mother told me that she would hear me laughing and talking in my room alone and occasionally hear me upset, telling Skell that it was too late to play and that I wanted to sleep.
  It got creepy when the name ’Skell’ was written in perfect cursive on a window (that was foggy) from the outside. My mother switched rooms with me, and it all stopped after that! @DavidGiImour / Reddit

• When I was around 5, I slept on the bottom of a bunk bed, my older brother above. One night, I remember a large pair of green eyes staring down at me from what appeared to be between the wooden boards of the upper bunk.
  I was terrified and had nightmares about the event for a few years after. Looking back on it, I’m sure they were just a pair of glowing stickers my older brother had likely placed there. @smillsishere / Reddit

As we reflect on the childhood memories that continue to haunt us, it becomes clear that they are more than just relics of the past—they are part of who we are.