15 True Stories That Get Creepier the More You Dig In

Not everyone has to plunge into horror movies or books to experience fear—they’ve encountered their own spine-chilling events. While some of these strange occurrences have straightforward explanations, others will leave you doubting your perception of reality. One thing is certain: the real-life stories we've compiled will linger in your mind long after you've finished reading them.

• My husband texted me, saying that he’d be back 2 days earlier from his work trip. Monday, he came home and apologized for not telling me that he was coming sooner. I said, “What do you mean? I got your text!”
  I took my phone to show him, and we both turned pale. Another text said, “Make sure to keep your phone next to you wherever you go; you never know who can mess with it!” We were so confused that we ended up assuming it was a colleague playing a prank. But then we noticed that the message was sent only an hour ago, and by that time, my husband was in his car alone. We still don't know who sent those two messages, but thankfully we haven't received any additional ones since.

• After my cat of ten years died in December, I would still hear him meowing. Usually, I could brush it off as just thinking too much about him.
  
  We had this routine where we’d talk back and forth—he’d meow, and I’d call back, “Clyde!” He’d meow again, I’d say, “Clyde!” Then he’d run up, and we’d cuddle.
  
  One day, I stepped outside and heard him, as if he were just ten feet away. Right after, I heard my own voice calling from far off, “Clyyyyde!” The meowing and my voice repeated a few times. It was extremely nerve-wracking. When it stopped, I turned around and went back inside.
  © Unknown author / Reddit

• My husband died 8 days before my daughter was born. My son was 5 then. He was 18 when I was telling a friend how my husband never got to meet our daughter. My son turned and said, "No, he actually did."
  
  What he said next made my spine tingle. He said that his dad used to visit them at school every single day for seven years, then suddenly stopped, and they never saw him again.
  What unsettled me were the details my son remembered. He described the man—the red hat he wore, his gestures—everything was identical to what his dad used to do.
  
  I asked my daughter, and she described the same man, down to the exact details. It still gives me shivers because that man couldn’t have been their dad. He had already passed away. To this day, I still don’t know who that stranger visiting my kids really was.

• 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

• I was 15 years old, home alone, when I very clearly heard the sound of a child laughing and running on a hard-surfaced floor throughout the house.
  A one-story house, all floors, including the kitchen area, were carpeted. © charrarenottrout / 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

• 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

• When I was 15, my parents went away for a weekend. I had gone to sleep but was woken up by strange noises of voices. I came downstairs to find the TV on static with the volume at maximum, a radio tuned to a late-night talk show, the oven manually turned on, and the fridge open. All doors and windows were locked, yet I still can’t explain it. I didn’t sleep a wink all night. © zealousmemelord / 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

• 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

• 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

• 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

• 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.

If you want a good laugh, listen to what kids have to say about their parents. You’re bound to discover some embarrassing family secrets in the process. The parents highlighted in these stories were probably turning bright red!