12 True Stories That Grow Eerier with Every Detail

Not everyone needs to dive into horror films or novels to get a scare—they’ve had their spine-tingling moments. While some of these bizarre happenings have clear reasons, others will leave you questioning your sense of reality. One thing is guaranteed: the true accounts we’ve gathered today will haunt your thoughts long after you’ve read them.

• I woke up at 3 a.m. to get water. I heard my son’s voice from his room, saying, “Mom, can you turn off the light?” I didn’t think twice—I switched it off. As I got back into bed, it hit me... my son
  wasn’t home; he had gone camping. I ran to his room and froze when I saw it was empty. I was 100% sure I heard my son’s voice—or at least someone talking to me in a sleepy tone. When I told my husband, he laughed it off, saying it was probably in my head, but I swear the voice was real. That moment still creeps me out.

• My boyfriend told me that when he was a kid, he used to hear whispers and have conversations in one of the rooms at night. Intrigued, he entered the room out of curiosity, and someone tapped him on the back so hard that he fell unconscious. When he woke up, there was a big mark on his back, resembling a scratch from large paws, and it’s still there today. It’s creepy.
  © ruri7218 / Reddit

• I was at a sleepover at a friend’s house when I was about 8 or 9 years old. My friend lived in a ranch-style house with a pool in the back and a big patio surrounding it. The living room ran along the length of the pool and had sliding glass doors the whole way, so you could open the living room to the patio. We were in there watching movies and hanging out until his parents told us it was late and time to head to bed.
  As we were leaving the room, my friend reached over to turn off the lights, and after the reflections were gone from the sliding glass doors, we saw a man standing on the patio across the pool, just staring at us.
  We freaked out, screamed, and ran to his parents. But by the time they came back into the living room to check, the man was gone. I have no idea how long he was standing there watching us, but I had nightmares about it for quite some time afterward. © xxMrAdamsxx / 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

• I was on the Tube in London, and a guy was sitting right opposite me with a very unusual, colorful t-shirt that was eye-catching. So, I spent the journey glancing at him and his shirt, as you do when you’re on the Tube.
  I got off at my stop, and the t-shirt guy stayed on the train. On my way up the escalator to street level, the same guy passed me on the opposite escalator coming down from the street.
  There was no way he could’ve been there—I left him on the train. It freaked me out good and proper. © Abervilla / Reddit

• When I was a kid, I remember lying on my bedroom floor with the door wide open while my parents watched TV in the living room at around 1 a.m. Suddenly, I’d try to get up to use the bathroom, and my brain would almost act out me doing it.
  It wasn’t until about the fifth time that I realized I had never actually gotten up. I was stuck on the floor, unable to move, talk, or call for my parents. It felt like something had sucked the soul out of my body, and I was pinned to the ground. It wasn’t until my dad walked in to put me in my bed that I started bawling my eyes out. © Stockwaa / Reddit

• Many, many years ago, there was an abandoned old house at the far end of a plant nursery. We had heard from others that they would go there to party. So, one night, a friend of mine, his girlfriend, and I grabbed some snacks and headed over, guided only by the light of the moon. We found the dilapidated house behind some tall trees and moved towards it.
  As we got closer, I heard a single frog croaking. As we approached even more, more frogs started making noise. A few steps further, the sound of thousands of frogs drowned out all other noises, seemingly warning us not to venture closer to the blackened window home. We took the frogs’ advice and went back home with our snacks, where it was safe. © Buck-osogrande-5150 / Reddit

• I had a dream of my husband and me having three children. It was sweet and happy until they started slowly disappearing, Thanos style. I remember waking up and feeling “off.”
  The next week, we found out I was pregnant with triplets. One of them I miscarried, the second one became suddenly unviable, and the third had to be removed because it was far undersized and a danger to my life.
  It was the creepiest experience of my life. © prznmike / Reddit

• There was a girl who was head over heels for me, but I didn’t want anything to do with her. After school, I didn’t think about her, but one year when I went back home for the summer, I found out she had moved to my family’s building, to the apartment across from ours (my building has two apartments per floor).
  I had never told her where I lived before this. I decided to be cordial and talk to her family and all, welcome the neighbors and whatnot, and I found out from her mom that the girl had suggested they move there. Now, I can’t tell either way if it was deliberate or pure chance, but let’s just say we live in a big city, and the odds of that being a coincidence were low. © Kenhamef / Reddit

• When I was 16, I decided to skip school and stay home to play video games. I set up my PlayStation and made some hot pockets, and just when I was getting comfortable, I heard footsteps approaching my room. I glanced outside and noticed my parents weren’t home yet, but I still felt afraid of getting caught. With no place to hide, I froze in place.
  
  Suddenly, the door was flung open, and I heard a blood-curdling scream echo through the house. I must have sat there petrified in that room for half an hour before finally going outside and waiting for my parents to come home. I tried to explain to my friends later what happened, but they thought I was just making up some internet-inspired story. © IAmTheRules / Reddit

• When I was a child, around 7, I lived in a house where the previous owner had passed away. My parents were unfazed by it, as they didn’t believe in the paranormal and thought nothing would happen.
  My room was the coldest in the house, and one night I woke up to a pale, lean man staring at me from the end of my bed. I didn’t scream; I was so shocked I must’ve fainted because the next thing I knew, it was morning. I never told my parents for fear of seeming crazy. But I remember his face so well. © Informal_Mushroom115 / Reddit

• When I was a kid in the early 2000s, my sister and I had a TV in our room that was just for watching DVDs (we did not have cable). On occasion, the TV would turn to a black terminal screen and start typing words to us. It would essentially curse us out and also identify that we were two girls. We thought it was funny and crazy and would call up our parents, saying, “Look what the TV is doing!”
  As adults, my sister and I are beyond creeped out at how the TV was able to do that. As to who or what was behind this phenomenon, we still have no idea. © neogirl22 / Reddit

If you’re looking for a good chuckle, tune in to what kids have to say about their parents. You’re sure to uncover some cringeworthy family secrets along the way. The parents featured in these stories were likely blushing furiously!