10 Real-Life Adventurers Whose Lives Could Be Legendary Stories

There is a hidden part in many that yearns to be an adventurer, whether it’s Lara Croft we idolize, or Nathan Drake. While for most, adventures remain pipe dreams or relegated to nothing more than big screen magic, some people manage to live through exhilarating experiences. These Redditors have our full attention as they shared their scary exploits that make for gripping tales, with somewhat unforeseen endings. We loved the suspense.

These scary stories come with a twist.

• There used to be this abandoned asylum in the woods by the park near the house where I grew up. The main building above ground had been torn down, but the basement was still there, and you could enter it through a small window that was just big enough to crawl through. The furniture was still down there.
  I was too afraid to go through the window, but my friend wasn’t. He was down there for about five minutes before he screamed and jumped out of the window. He said something was chasing him. We could hear it down there scurrying around, but none of us wanted to get close enough to the window to look with the flashlight.
  A few years later, a woman got attacked near there by a gaze of aggressive raccoons. Redheadeddanger / Reddit
• I look at abandoned and foreclosed homes as part of my job. I have walked through about 2,500 in the past years. The time I got scared the most was when one house was in rough shape. It had been ransacked and had lots of debris, even though the windows were boarded up. I got in and was taking photos of all the rooms.
  As I made my way to the dimly-lit basement, I turned the corner and saw a man standing in the back, looking back at me. I yelled in fear and jumped back, only to realize it was a floor-to-ceiling mirror and a reflection of myself. AustynCunningham / Reddit
• One night, my friend and I were walking back to his place after a concert. It was late, and we decided to take a shortcut through a construction site because we were tired. Since all the streets around the construction site were closed it was completely empty, as if the whole area was abandoned like in a zombie apocalypse, with just the two of us in the South Loop area of Chicago.
  We’re crossing this small bridge and just chatting away about what we liked the most about the show. I was looking at him and then turn my head forward and am face to face with what looks like a zombie rat. Someone had taken a mummified rat or squirrel or something and use wire to position it like it was pouncing midair at your face. Scared me so much!
  I snapped a picture of it with my not-so-great phone. It creeped both of us out, and we bolted down the street. eDgAR / Reddit
• Was wandering around abandoned military buildings and I dropped a half-inch steel plate to make noise. It was great! So much echo. I turn around and a pair of angry eyes are 5 feet away, and coming for my head!
  Everything goes silent and slo-mo. In the quarter second it took to duck, I knew I really angered this owl, and he and I had an understanding. I was the prey. I got out super quick after that. Ebby8 / Reddit

A touch of the supernatural

• There used to be an abandoned house just behind our property when I was a kid. The lady who lived there died some 30 years ago and no one ever bothered with the house. It was seriously run down. All the windows were broken by vandals, storms had blown stuff all over the place, the floors were water damaged and warped., the paint was flaking off everywhere and it smelled strange.
  The back area had a shed with what I presumed were jars of canned vegetables that were so old they had begun to molt. The creepy vibe was very strong and when my siblings and I went to explore it, we all had a strong feeling we were being watched. Now, my brother and sister had their own unexplained experiences, but I’ll share mine.
  In the upstairs room and the top of the stairs, there was an old hospital bed with a stained mattress. I saw shelves full of interesting books, so I thought I would salvage them. I gathered a few and laid them on the bed. Bear in mind my brother and sister were in the very next room, I could see them the whole time while they were trying to make their way out onto a balcony.
  One of them called for me to help move an old TV, so I went and helped. Again, I could see them the entire time, they never left that room. Now, I kid thee not. When I got back to the book room... those books were back on the shelf.
  To this day, I have no rational explanation. I never went back to that house. lordpoee / Reddit
• It was back in high school, and I took a friend to an old, abandoned house I’ve never been to. It was just a two-story house out in the country, nothing too spooky in the outside. We walk in, and it’s just a mess, stuff was thrown about, just looked like the place was rummaged through. First floor couldn’t hold my attention, so I figured I’d make my way up the stairs.
  On my way up on the wall is this rectangular door, nothing too big, but I’ve never seen something like that before, so I opened it. Inside was a minuscule room, you could probably only squat in it. There were just odds and ends in there, things you’d expect to see in storage that people typically don’t use often.
  What caught my eye though was a paper drawing near the door. It was a stereotypical drawing of a girl and a sun (triangle dress, circle head, circle sun, lines for the sun’s rays). It was creepy enough, even for an abandoned house. And then I turned it over...
  Now, my last name isn’t very common where I live. Outside of family, I’ve never met someone with this last name. On the back of this drawing, was written “SMACKY” That was enough to make me flip out, leave, and drop urban exploring completely. smackey873 / Reddit

These Redditors had a close shave.

• My dad and I were exploring an abandoned mine in Arizona, and we weren’t really prepared for it. While my dad was walking, he wasn’t really paying attention to where he was going, and at the last second, I saw he was about to step in to a vertical shaft.
  I grabbed him, pulled him back, and then we looked to see how far he would have fallen. It was about a 400-foot drop. TheAdmiralofAckbar / Reddit
• Friends and I decided to explore an abandoned hospital, in the middle of the night. Getting in was a huge pain, so we were a little excited and started running through the building in the dark. I suddenly grew a brain cell and realized we probably shouldn’t just be running through a pitch black building and stopped just short of a 7-story drop to the basement. Not one of my prouder moments. stevebobeeve / Reddit
• About 10 years ago I was exploring an old run down hotel in my city with some friends at about 3 a.m. The property owners were having serious troubles with squatters, so they had put razor wire everywhere. I was wearing thin jeans, tripped on some steps and thought some razor wire had just caught on my jeans. We keep going and get inside.
  Soon I realize my leg is wet. My buddy shines his flashlight on my leg, and it turns out its blood. I have to drop my pants in front of everyone to see where it’s coming from. Right above my knee is this cut, squirting blood. The same friend takes off his belt and sweatshirt and makes a pressure pack for it and gets me to lay down with my leg above my head for a bit.
  After a while, we decide we have to hike out of there, so I take my pants all the way off because I didn’t want to rip them over the sweatshirt. So here I am walking out of this hotel and into the subsequent neighborhood to where our car was parked in my boxer briefs holding my leg, soaked in blood from the knee down. Ended up okay, though, but it could have been worse. sliptripdipsticktrip / Reddit
• I was exploring an abandoned mine in the Mojave. I was pretty far in, climbing down ladders and exploring old rooms. I saw old newspapers, break rooms, clothes and unexploded dynamite in the walls. Something spooked me and I turned around fast to run. I hit my head on the rock, broke my headlamp and knocked myself out.
  When I came to, I was wet, cold, and it was pitch black. I tried my headlamp, my back-up, and my flashlight, but nothing worked. I was beginning to get really scared, but I continued searching my backpack, and found several Halloween chem-lights that my kids had put in. As I tore the first one open and cracked it, there was beautiful green light everywhere!
  I recognized where I was and made my way out. Ended up driving to the hospital with a 3-inch gash on my head, covered in blood and mud. I got 13 staples in my head and never went back into a mine alone after that. SDRabidBear / Reddit

These escapades certainly left an impression on these brave souls, and teach us to value safety above all else. Meanwhile, these people added plenty of adventure to something as simple as a supermarket trip.