10 Stories That Can Keep You on the Edge From Start to Finish

Get ready to dive into a collection of gripping moments that will pull you in and never let go. Each story is packed with surprise, emotion, and suspense. Whether it’s a twist you didn’t see coming or a scene that makes your heart race, these real-life events are sure to hold your attention all the way through.

• Once, I went to phone my grandparents but couldn’t remember whether the last digit in the number was 7 or 8. I guessed. Anyway, I picked the wrong one, and some guy who wasn’t my grandpa picked up. I apologized and said I had the wrong number.
  He said, “Is that (my name)?” A bit creeped out, I replied, “...Yes? Who is this?” He just laughed and said, “You don’t recognize my voice, do you?”
  I froze for about a minute before saying goodbye and hanging up. To this day, I have no idea who he was or how he knew me. © Mightyfineshindig / Reddit

• One summer night when I was in high school, I was asleep with my window open. At around 3 a.m., I heard someone ferociously honking their car horn over and over. At this point, I wasn’t fully awake and comprehending where the sound was coming from. Then suddenly, I heard a woman scream, “Somebody, please help me!”
  This made me jump out of bed instantly, and I ran to my mom’s room to tell her we needed to call 911. My mom called and reported the incident. After a few minutes, we saw the cops arrive, they looked around with flashlights for a few minutes but couldn’t find anyone in their car, so they ended up leaving.
  The next day, we asked the neighbors if they heard or saw anything, and no one had even heard a peep. It still weirds me out to this day. © No_Director2816 / Reddit

• One time when I was younger, I was upstairs in my room playing games on a PlayStation. I was home alone because both of my parents had gone out to see a movie. It was a fairly normal night with nothing out of the ordinary happening until I heard an extremely loud crashing noise and what sounded like glass shattering coming from the kitchen area.
  I immediately went downstairs to find the source of the noise. I checked all of the windows, but they showed no signs of damage. Confused, I kept walking around, trying to find the source of the loud crashing noise, until I reached the kitchen.
  I don’t know how this happened, but the outer glass screen of our oven had completely fallen off and shattered. Slightly terrified, I swept up all the glass and threw it away. To this day, I still have no clue what caused the oven screen door to shatter like that, and it remains one of the biggest unexplained mysteries of my life. © GoldenDude / Reddit

• I woke up in the middle of the night to someone standing next to my bed. I thought I knew who it was (a friend and this person shared the same physique), but then I remembered that they don’t drive, and I had never given them my address.
  I talked to my parents in the morning, but they had never woken up. Besides, this person was rail thin—definitely neither my mom nor dad. I still don’t know 100% of what happened. The night was a blur, and I remember only bits and pieces. © BoringNameBoringLife / Reddit

• I was casually dating a guy for roughly 5 months. I moved into a new apartment and had sent him pictures of the interior before I moved. He went on a trip abroad and got upset that I wasn’t answering his FaceTimes in the middle of the night. I decided I wasn’t interested in pursuing anything further because of his persistent pestering and insecurities.
  I had moved in and was working on unpacking when, suddenly, I got a knock at my door. He found where I was living with just a picture of the hardwood floors and some windows. I don’t have my location for my photos turned on, so there’s no way he could have found it from something simple.
  He saw absolutely nothing creepy about it and proceeded to push the door and beg me to let him inside. I promptly shut and locked the door. He left, and I haven’t heard from him—thankfully. © dogoverkids / Reddit

• One summer when I was around 13, my mom and I were sitting in the living room talking late at night. For some reason, we looked out the window and saw two people walking past our house. They were about 7 feet tall and wearing silver parkas. It was hot and humid outside.
  As they passed our house, the pipes in the chimney started shaking violently and didn’t stop until the people were out of sight. There weren’t any pipes in our chimney. It was eerie. © rowdymark / Reddit

• I was housesitting for my parents in a small town, and at the time, I had no cell service. Their house is in a big forested area and was empty except for me and my dog. Naturally, I spent the day watching horror movies.
  Later, I noticed I had a new voicemail but no missed calls. This was strange because I still had no reception (it was spotty and particularly bad that day). When I listened to the voicemail, it was a garbled message that sounded like unintelligible speech. © Joyrock / Reddit

• When I was like 14/15, I went with my family to Las Vegas, and we stayed off the main strip in a 2-bedroom suite. My parents left to go out and enjoy the night, while I stayed with my younger siblings. They slept in the bedrooms, and I was in the living room watching TV.
  I think I dozed off at around midnight and when I woke up, I was in a stairwell. Outside of the hotel room. I had no shoes on. I had no cell phone. No room key. I went to the front office and told them I was locked out of my room, and they believed me and gave me a key.
  I still don’t know why I was out there. To this day, I have never sleepwalked. I don’t know what happened. Maybe I did sleepwalk, maybe something happened during those hours that I cannot remember. But it was creepy enough for me to share. © mcgrumpy_pants / Reddit

• I was waiting at a red light when a 12-year-old girl suddenly climbed into my backseat. I turned around, shocked, and asked, “Who are you?!” She said, “Mom told me to get in your car.”
  I looked around—there was no one. Then she added, “She said you’re the man who brought me into this world, and now you can help us with some money.”
  Just then, my phone rang. It was a woman who addressed me by name: “Dr. Carter.” She introduced herself and said I had been her doctor 12 years ago, and that she had just seen me by coincidence on the street. She and her daughter were in desperate need—her husband had thrown them out, and they had nowhere to go.
  I was stunned. I didn’t recognize her voice or remember her name, but she clearly remembered me. And I couldn’t just turn them away—especially with her daughter sitting in my backseat, looking at me with quiet hope. I reached into my wallet and handed the girl $200—enough for a few nights in a motel and some food.
  Then I watched her walk away and drove off. I never saw this child again. But I’ll never forget that day.

• A few years ago, my brother would get a call on his cellphone around 2:00–3:00 A.M. every night. He would answer and it was this weird noise. Like static mixed with screams.
  He changed his cell number after a month of this and it stopped. Then after a week or so it began again. The exact same noise. Exact same time.
  Finally, one day, he decided to dial back the call. It was an old man that had no clue what he was talking about. Still, the calls persisted. If he didn’t answer, it would call a few more times. No messages were left.
  He decided to end his contract with his phone company, switched to a new one, and then got a new number. The screaming static calls continued after a short delay. By this time, he was terrified every night. Unsure why this was happening, he dialed back the number again and got a different person.
  Around this time, he lost his job and his phone. The calls stopped. His phone was disconnected now. One day, my mom asks me to listen to this weird message she got on our home phone. It was the static screaming.
  We showed my brother, and he was freaking out. He dialed the number again, and it said the number was disconnected this time. Never heard from it again after that. © Mastrius / Reddit

Even in the midst of darkness and misfortune, kindness still shines through. These 12 stories show how a single act of compassion can turn someone’s day around—and sometimes, their entire life.