13 Eerie Stories That Are Sound 100% Made Up, But Are Apparently 100% True

Some unsettling encounters endure, imprinting a lasting emotional and perceptual imprint. These experiences shape our character and worldview, despite their challenging or painful nature. While they may test our resilience and inner fortitude, they also impart invaluable lessons that resonate throughout our journey, influencing us indefinitely.

• When I was 4, while on a trip abroad, a man tried to buy me from my parents because I had green eyes and blond hair. The man physically picked me up and tried bartering with my dad, but my dad was a big dude and snatched me back, and we quickly left that area.
  © lurkashrae / Reddit

• When my little brother and I were younger, we used to look under rain gutter trays for salamanders, bugs, and other things. We were probably around 4 to 7 years old when my little brother lifted one up to find a baby snake. He grabbed it by the tail and started spinning it around, playing and singing “ring around the rosie”. At the time, it was funny, but as we got older, we realized the snake was actually a baby copperhead, a highly poisonous snake. If it had bitten him, he could have easily died. © norasusanboyle / Reddit

• I have incredibly vivid memories of a red and yellow snake creature made of socks. It had skinny, bony arms and legs and a mouth like a lamprey. I now believe these to be hallucinations, something I still suffer with, but I will never forget what it looked like.
  © Uknown author / Reddit

• We were in a hotel, and I took an elevator downstairs. Somehow, the elevator got stuck midway between floors (the upper half of the doors was still on the floor), but the doors were still functioning. I pressed the doors to open. It was one of the first times I actually went in an elevator alone because I was always scared that it would get stuck. So, I panicked and climbed off the elevator onto the floor. Looking back at it, if the doors had closed or the elevator had started moving, I would have been ripped in half. It still makes me shiver thinking about it. © actor5454 / Reddit

• When I was around 8, I was complaining to my dad about how I missed my mom (as I hadn’t seen her in a couple of years). He got noticeably angry and said, “Well, you can choose, live with me or live with her.” It was upsetting as a kid, but I never understood how messed up it was until I was an adult. © zilyis / Reddit

• When I was seven, I got into the wrong car at our campground. I just sat there and waited for my dad to get to the car, thinking he was still packing up our site. A man who was not my dad sat in the driver’s seat and turned on the ignition, about to drive away without noticing I was there.
  
  I asked my “dad” a question, and the man was very startled when he realized there was a seven-year-old strange girl in the car. I screamed when I realized he was a stranger, said sorry, and booked it. © Tealbouquet / Reddit

• I remember when I was younger, maybe 4 or 5 years old, my older brother used to wake up crying a lot, and he would run out of our room to sleep in my parents’ room. There was even one night where I woke up to a loud banging sound in my closet, and all of my board games fell down from the top shelf. My brother was screaming his head off, and I was scared out of my mind.
  
  Years later, I found out the cause of all this trauma. My brother used to get visited at night by the ghost of a little boy who would ask him to play. My brother would cry because the kid kept asking him over and over again. The banging sound in the closet was actually the sound of the little boy escaping into it after my brother started yelling for our mother. That apartment we lived in actually had a lot of creepy things happen, and I have some of my own vague yet vivid memories.
  © MichaelMaximwriter / Reddit

• When I was 4 years old, I had a friend who used to scare me. He was all black, had bright brown eyes, and was as tall as a man. However, I thought I was the only one who could see him. One day, I was sitting on my bed talking about the future of our friendship when my mom heard me talking and walked into my room. My friend got scared when my mom walked in, and when my mom saw him, she screamed, and he vanished. Nine years later, my mom started talking about this “friend” of mine and said he was a family member who died 15 years ago.
  © michelle_cocacola / Reddit

• I was playing in my front yard as a kid, I might have been 9 years old. A guy in a truck stopped in front of our house and asked me if I had seen his dog. I said no. He asked me if I would come to help him find his dog. I told him that I had chores to complete before I could go anywhere. He asked if I was sure because he was really worried about his dog. I told him I was sure and headed back into my house. He drove off. © shardik78677 / Reddit

• I was sleeping on the rear seat in the middle with no seatbelt on when suddenly my mom woke me up and told me to put my seatbelt on. About 5 minutes later, we crashed our car. Reflecting on it now, I realize that I could have been thrown out of the front window if my mother hadn’t had that gut feeling. © Jaffasinep / Reddit

• When I was about 3 or 4 years old, I told my mum that I was going to visit grandad. I got on my ride-on push car, left home, and just headed down my street, thinking to myself that grandad lived somewhere after this place (he lived a good 10 minutes away by car!). Luckily, the neighbor from down the road saw me and told me to go home, to which I exclaimed, “No, I’m going to see grandad!” while crying, and she took me home. I was lucky that my adventure was interrupted halfway down my street. Anything could have happened to me. © Unknown Author / Reddit

• One time, I decided to play with a toy dump truck right on top of a cistern with a shoddy ceiling. I remember a dark pit full of murky water, screaming “Help, help!” as one of my Crocs floated past me. Luckily, my grandfather was nearby, and he lifted me out like the master fisherman he was.
  © RedRails1917 / Reddit

• Maybe around 10 at the time, my sister probably about 8. We were visiting my grandparents in England, just as my granddad’s dementia was starting to become debilitating. Of course, I had no idea what that meant at the time.
  
  One day, we wanted to go to the park, so Granddad offered to walk us there. After walking for maybe 20 minutes, we ended up in the middle of town, nowhere near the park. My granddad’s dementia made him forget where he was going, and my sister and I were lost with him. Luckily, my parents came and found us not long after. © cburke141 / Reddit

Childhood memories frequently contain enigmatic tales that defy logic, leaving individuals haunted by inexplicable events. Whether it’s encountering eerie strangers or experiencing inexplicable supernatural phenomena, these peculiar memories persist into adulthood, prompting many to question their origins and meaning.