18 Startling True Stories with Twists That Will Leave You Speechless

Have you ever experienced a moment so astonishing that it felt like something straight out of a movie? You’re definitely not the only one! We have collected 15 incredible real-life stories that seem ordinary at first but quickly take an unimaginable turn.

• We drove 11 hours with a newborn baby to my in-laws. It was absolute agony. We had to stop frequently to nurse her, and she kept crying. We were exhausted. We got there, and their house was filthy. Crumbs on every surface, and the floor is gross. I went to the restroom, and there was black mold everywhere. I’ve never seen a place this dirty. The next day, we got into a huge fight at the hotel because I was so uncomfortable using the restroom there and exposing our newborn to black mold. We agreed we’ll never go back. © silverhalotoucan / Reddit

• When I was a little girl, around 8 or 9, I started to hear knocking in my room at night. It would go on for hours nonstop until I fell asleep. This happened for weeks at a time, mostly during the summer. I was a smart and stubborn kid and refused to believe in ghosts or magic. By the time the knocking had continued for about three weeks straight, I started whispering, “Hey, if you need help crossing over, that’s fine. Just let me go to sleep.”
  I never told anyone because I knew there had to be a rational explanation; I just hadn’t figured it out yet. It could have been a raccoon, the house settling, or even a creepy person. The knocking became less frequent over the years, and I eventually decided not to care. It faded away entirely.
  Flash forward a few years — I was 12 when I started having issues with anxiety. I received treatment, but nothing seemed to help. They eventually sent me for a full workup. It turned out there was no raccoon, no house noises, and no creepy pervert making the sound. I had schizophrenia. © not_a_mutant / Reddit

• I was engaged, planning our wedding, and trying for a baby. When I told him I was pregnant, he responded with, ‘I guess I’m stuck with you.’ Four weekends later, I was moving into my own place, having lost our baby and being dumped. © Lozzif / Reddit

• Dated this guy who was a hotshot from a wealthy family. Moved in, and our relationship has become a mess. He was cheating, the other woman shows up on my doorstep and spills the beans because she’d just found out about me. She helps me pack, and I leave.
  I was working a job I liked, but it didn’t pay the best, so I couch-surfed while I saved. My boss, who was this goofy but kind guy, tried to help break down the walls I was putting up, but I wasn’t budging.
  I get sick one day and go to the hospital, I’m rushed into surgery for an intestinal blockage that’s been there for a while, I text my boss to let him know I won’t be back that day because I was going into surgery. I wake up, my boss is sitting there with flowers. Those walls came down at light speed. Cue one whirlwind romance later, and I’m married to him and the happiest I’ve ever been. © Petite-Omahkatayo / Reddit

• Both my mom and my aunt married a man named Brian. Both of those Brians had brothers named Scott. My mom and dad both had fathers named Robert, called Bob for short. Also, both of the Brians had dogs named Pepper. © Unknown author / Reddit

• My ex-girlfriend married the ex-husband of my sister, so now my ex-GF is my nephew’s stepmom. And she had a kid with my ex-BIL, so now my ex’s kid might as well be my niece. And my mom sold them her old home, which was my childhood home.
  Everyone’s cool with each other. © HalfSoul30 / Reddit

• I was home with my newborn when the doorbell rang, right in the middle of pumping. I never answered it, so I just kept going. 5 minutes later, I heard a stranger talking to my husband downstairs. Then he stormed up the stairs, grabbed the baby, and said, “Sorry, I didn’t know they were coming!”
  I’m like, “What? Who is it?” and he explains that his boss and his wife are at the door with a baby gift. I respond with “Okay” since I’m still attached to the pump machine. I finish up, then head to the bathroom to put on lotion. A couple of minutes later, my husband came back upstairs, visibly upset, because I didn’t come down to greet them and accept their gift.
  I told him I didn’t realize I needed to or that they were staying. He says it was very rude of me and that I’m a jerk for, first, not answering the door and, second, not coming down after he told me. He said they were asking him where I was and what I was doing, which made things awkward for him.
  Edit to clarify: my husband wasn’t home when they arrived. He got home five minutes after they did, and they were still standing at the door, I guess. © SignificantWill5218 / Reddit

• I went for a sleepover at a friend’s house. Her grandma ordered a pizza for us, but wouldn’t let us drink anything. We were playing and decided to eat later. When my friend opened the box after it’d been sitting in the kitchen, I felt sick. Cockroaches were crawling all over the pizza. I chose not to eat any. The friend just flicked the bugs and then ate them. I ended up calling my mom and asking her to come. I told the friend I didn’t feel good. © jeclin91092 / Reddit

• When I was in university, I had a boyfriend. After about two years together, I discovered he was being paid to date me. I was heartbroken.
  When I asked him why, he simply said that the woman who hired him was his lesbian best friend, who just wanted to chat with me. She pretended to be him online and talked to me. I guess it was to make me fall in love with her or something.

• When I was in high school, two girls from my high school, with similar names, had dated the same two guys and switched. This was already scandalous in our small high school. Here comes the twist.
  Come to find out, the two guys, football players, were in a relationship behind their backs. So in both relationships, the girls were being cheated on by their boyfriends with their ex-boyfriends. I still think they don’t know, but there’s a good chance they are not together anymore. © 1pptouch / Reddit

• When I was 10 years old, I didn’t want to go to school one day. I faked a stomachache, so my Grandmother would let me stay home. I’ve always been a bad liar, so my Grandma tried to call my bluff. She told me if I was too sick for school, then she would be scheduling me a doctor’s Appointment.
  Three hours later, I was rushed into emergency surgery. My fake illness was appendicitis, and It was so inflamed that if I hadn’t come in that day my appendix would have ruptured, potentially killing me. I felt 100% fine that day. Faking sick saved my life. © jnoway826 / Reddit

• While I was studying in the university library, I was sitting in one of the individual study armchairs—three large armchairs placed side by side with extended top parts. I was quietly minding my own business when I saw a guy’s head pop out past the side flap of my chair. He silently extended his arm, holding a bag of Cheetos, and offered me one. I politely turned him down.
  Fast-forward a few months: I’m on a bus heading back to my hometown from another state. The bus has assigned seating and is relatively empty, with only 10–15 people, including a guy sitting in front of me. As I’m dozing off, I notice, out of the corner of my eye, the guy sitting diagonally from me looking at the person seated in front of me and shaking his head.
  I then see the guy in front of me get up on his knees on the seat and turn around. Lo and behold, it’s the same guy from the university library. And what does he do? He sticks out his arm and offers me some Cheetos again. © ThrowRARAw / Reddit

• When I was a kid, I went deep sea fishing with my dad and some uncles and cousins, etc. We had 2 boats out a mile or two, I don’t remember exactly how far. Anyhow, I’m not very good at fishing — or holding things I guess — because I went to cast, and I threw my fishing pole overboard. Everybody had a good laugh, someone loaned me a different pole, and we continued fishing.
  A couple of hours later, we go back to shore. We can’t get to the docks, though, because there’s a boat race going on. We have to wait around for a while.
  One of my cousins decided to pull out his fishing pole to alleviate the boredom, even though everyone knew he wouldn’t catch anything. Except he did catch something: my fishing pole. © dromedarian / Reddit

• Right after high school graduation, I met a girl in a pool hall who had the exact same name as my mother. It was Jacqueline, for the record. We were both born and raised in the same mid-sized city. I didn’t think much of it beyond the obvious “Oh, that’s a completely coincidental happenstance!”
  Fast-forward two or three months, she and I are dating hot and heavy. Meet her parents, and her dad ’swears’ he’s met me before.
  A couple of weeks later, I go to visit the GF at work and am greeted with the following, “So, I know why my dad thinks you look familiar. Turns out, he dated your mom in high school, then named his daughter after her.” © FabricateReality / Reddit

• I once was changing pants in my room before work and took off my belt. After putting on my other pair of pants, I went to put my belt back on, but it was gone. No one else was in the room and I spent a good 10 minutes looking for it as I had simply set it on the floor. It’s been 10 years, and I’ve never seen that belt again. © JonesE27 / Reddit

• I’m too young to remember this, but my mom always tells the story. Apparently, when I was very little — barely able to speak — I was sitting on the floor playing with toys next to my mom. Out of nowhere, I said, “When I was in heaven, I met a woman who said you’d be the perfect mommy for me.”
  I believed that I was in heaven before being born and that a woman chose my mom for me. When my mom asked me to describe the woman, I gave a perfect description of her great-grandmother, down to her eye color. I had never met my great-great-grandmother or seen a picture of her. © Beans375 / Reddit

• My grandpa passed away, and about a year or two later, my baby brother started going into my grandpa’s room. My parents thought I was with him because he was laughing, babbling, and seemed entertained, which he only does when someone else is around. But I was actually in my room, and my parents were downstairs.
  After about 30 minutes, my parents started looking for him and found him just lying there in the room, not playing with anything. He still goes into that room, as if he’s looking for my grandpa. I wonder if he saw his ghost or something like that. © Cabron_Sito / Reddit

• I was in my room watching Hulu (The Simpsons, if that matters) when a Burger King commercial came on. It featured the King mascot, and he said, “Let’s have a staring contest.” I thought, “Hmm, okay,” and played along. We were both staring and then suddenly, I blinked.
  IMMEDIATELY, he said, “Gotcha, I won,” and I was completely shocked. I slammed my laptop shut, feeling creeped out for the rest of the night. After that, I watched Hulu all the time, hoping to see that commercial again, but I never did. © Unknown author / Reddit

Life has a funny way of surprising us when we least expect it, often throwing challenges our way. But some folks have a knack for turning things around, no matter how messy things get. Take a look at this collection of stories from people who managed to find the silver lining in unexpected moments.