Even if you’re a fan of horror stories, movies, and video games, it doesn’t make you immune to real-life fear. There’s an abyss between seeing something scary play out on the pages of a book or on the screen and actually being in the middle of a disturbing situation.
In an entrancing AskReddit thread, internet users opened up about the creepiest, most frightening things they witnessed in the woods and remote rural areas. Keep scrolling to read their tales.
But be warned, some of these might spook you way more than you thought they would… Got your holy water and garlic? Good. Let’s get to it.
#1
This was quite a few years ago now.
But me and my friend had this really cool spot to hang out , in the woods.
You had to walk in the middle of a creek for a KM and duck through sharp bushes and Thistles.
The hike was well rewarding though.
The spot was about half an acre big , it was pure green grass on a incline with beautiful clear water ponds everywhere . There was tons of wildlife and the butterfly's lived there . So there was always tons of butterfly's!
So the story begins on the way to this place
My friend Levi and I were walking along the river on the way to the spot .
It was in the middle of a valley and nobody else ever went down there
Suddenly Levi stopped moving and ducked into a bush , I did the same because I thought there must have been a large animal somewhere .
I saw him staring up the hill and so I looked up to
There was two people standing at the top of the hill heaving back and forth a lifeless body
We watched as they threw the lifeless corpse down the hill as it bounced off the trees and eventually got stuck on a tree at the bottom.
Then they took off
Me and him were terrified and I was shaking so badly I couldn't speak
So we decided to verify it was a real body
Levi got about 4 feet away before screaming "IT HAS NOSTRILS !! ITS REAL !! RUN!!"
So of course we take off running , and I glance back to see the two people run back to the top of the hill
Me and him ran 2 km through thick brush and trees to get away from them
The next day we were with his parents driving to town . And we saw like 10 firetrucks at the school closest to the forest
Terrified we told his parents , balling our eyes out worried that we were going to get m******d.
His mom started laughing at us and said,
"They are training for search and rescue , that was a dummy that the firemen had to find "
I never slept as good as I did that night...
But me and my friend had this really cool spot to hang out , in the woods.
You had to walk in the middle of a creek for a KM and duck through sharp bushes and Thistles.
The hike was well rewarding though.
The spot was about half an acre big , it was pure green grass on a incline with beautiful clear water ponds everywhere . There was tons of wildlife and the butterfly's lived there . So there was always tons of butterfly's!
So the story begins on the way to this place
My friend Levi and I were walking along the river on the way to the spot .
It was in the middle of a valley and nobody else ever went down there
Suddenly Levi stopped moving and ducked into a bush , I did the same because I thought there must have been a large animal somewhere .
I saw him staring up the hill and so I looked up to
There was two people standing at the top of the hill heaving back and forth a lifeless body
We watched as they threw the lifeless corpse down the hill as it bounced off the trees and eventually got stuck on a tree at the bottom.
Then they took off
Me and him were terrified and I was shaking so badly I couldn't speak
So we decided to verify it was a real body
Levi got about 4 feet away before screaming "IT HAS NOSTRILS !! ITS REAL !! RUN!!"
So of course we take off running , and I glance back to see the two people run back to the top of the hill
Me and him ran 2 km through thick brush and trees to get away from them
The next day we were with his parents driving to town . And we saw like 10 firetrucks at the school closest to the forest
Terrified we told his parents , balling our eyes out worried that we were going to get m******d.
His mom started laughing at us and said,
"They are training for search and rescue , that was a dummy that the firemen had to find "
I never slept as good as I did that night...
Report
41points
#2
It's 2 AM. We're in a tent in the woods in Maine. I'm about 8.
"Mom, there's something creeping around outside the tent!"
"Mmmph, you're dreaming, go back to bed..."
"Mom, there really is something out there!"
"No. There isn't."
Just then, something WHAPS on the side of the tent, hard enough to shake the whole thing. And my mother - who is entirely too goddamned tired to deal with this s**t - sits bolt upright and WHAPS right back in the same spot.
And from outside the tent, we hear...
"Meow.."
Edit: it was a housecat. We didn't hear anything more the rest of the night.
"Mom, there's something creeping around outside the tent!"
"Mmmph, you're dreaming, go back to bed..."
"Mom, there really is something out there!"
"No. There isn't."
Just then, something WHAPS on the side of the tent, hard enough to shake the whole thing. And my mother - who is entirely too goddamned tired to deal with this s**t - sits bolt upright and WHAPS right back in the same spot.
And from outside the tent, we hear...
"Meow.."
Edit: it was a housecat. We didn't hear anything more the rest of the night.
28points
#3
I'd been at football training with a few of my cousins when I was about 10 years old.
We decided to take a walk before our parents picked us up, so we went along the canal towpath. My cousin looked down in the canal and say a really nice jacket floating along and being a weird scavenger person decided to reach in to fish it out.
Well, the jacket turned over. And so did the man wearing it. He also had no face left.
Not gonna lie, that was rough.
We decided to take a walk before our parents picked us up, so we went along the canal towpath. My cousin looked down in the canal and say a really nice jacket floating along and being a weird scavenger person decided to reach in to fish it out.
Well, the jacket turned over. And so did the man wearing it. He also had no face left.
Not gonna lie, that was rough.
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25points
When you find yourself in a stressful or frightening situation, your body’s fight-or-flight response kicks in to protect you from danger. Only… that’s not the full picture. There are two other lesser-known stress responses, namely, freezing and fawning.
WebMD explains that when your body enters fight mode, it feels that it can overpower the danger. You might feel intense anger, grind your teeth, have the urge to hit something, and feel a knotted sensation in your stomach.
On the other hand, if your body thinks that running away gives the best chance of overcoming the risk, then it surges hormones like adrenaline to give you stamina. In this case, you might feel restless, fidgety, tense, and have constantly darting eyes.
#4
When I was about 7 or 8, my parents sent me to a local summer camp that they would pick me up from in the afternoons. I never really liked it because the kids were mean, everything was either broken or not clean, and the counselors obviously didn't care. I remember the girl's changing room had a door that lead out to the woods but the doorknob was gone so it was unlocked all the time and you could see into it. This was primarily where the girls changed into their bathing suits and there was usually someone blocking the view while we changed so the boys couldn't look in. Well, one day I'm changing alone and someone wasn't blocking the door. I look over and see an eye peeping in through the hole watching me change. I pull the rest of my clothes back on quickly and run out to tell my twin brother. I tell my dad that I don't want to go back to that camp anymore and he begrudgingly takes us out of the camp pretty soon after because he knew how much we hated it. Years later, the camp has been closed down for many many years and I'm asking my dad about it. He gets really grim and tells me it shut down because a 13 year old boy had r***d 7 year old girl in the woods right behind the girl's bathroom a few weeks after I had told him about someone watching me change.
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23points
#5
This took place in the Australian bush around 10/11 at night.
I was 17, leading a staggered column of about 60 Cadets to our detachment campsite. Due to light discipline rules, only myself at the very front of the group and the other flight commander at the rear had torches on. This was so that any vehicles coming along the trail could see us and so that most of the cadets could maintain their night vision(we were camouflaged up and thus difficult to see at night).
As we walked along I periodically looked to my sides, and kept seeing what looked like dew drops on the ground. Almost like tiny blue gems glinting in my torch light either side of the road.I had to maintain my position in the formation, so I couldn't get a good look at what they were.
However, after a while we stopped for a very brief break, and I took the opportunity to have a closer look. Walking over to the side of the trail I spotted a small cluster of the "diamonds" and focused my head torch on them. Rather than seeing diamonds or dew drops or anything remotely pleasant, I instead saw a group of about 5 large spiders just crouching in the leaf litter and staring at me. They looked like huntsmans which are about the size of an adults hand. Sweeping my head around, I realised there were thousands of the things. All over the ground, some on the trunks of trees, and everywhere around me; glaring at the light affixed to my head.
I had a **very** brisk walk back to the formation and attempted to play it cool while screaming in my head.
Being a massive Arachnophobe, I have no f*****g clue how I managed to set up a tent and spend the next week in that cursed forest.
I was 17, leading a staggered column of about 60 Cadets to our detachment campsite. Due to light discipline rules, only myself at the very front of the group and the other flight commander at the rear had torches on. This was so that any vehicles coming along the trail could see us and so that most of the cadets could maintain their night vision(we were camouflaged up and thus difficult to see at night).
As we walked along I periodically looked to my sides, and kept seeing what looked like dew drops on the ground. Almost like tiny blue gems glinting in my torch light either side of the road.I had to maintain my position in the formation, so I couldn't get a good look at what they were.
However, after a while we stopped for a very brief break, and I took the opportunity to have a closer look. Walking over to the side of the trail I spotted a small cluster of the "diamonds" and focused my head torch on them. Rather than seeing diamonds or dew drops or anything remotely pleasant, I instead saw a group of about 5 large spiders just crouching in the leaf litter and staring at me. They looked like huntsmans which are about the size of an adults hand. Sweeping my head around, I realised there were thousands of the things. All over the ground, some on the trunks of trees, and everywhere around me; glaring at the light affixed to my head.
I had a **very** brisk walk back to the formation and attempted to play it cool while screaming in my head.
Being a massive Arachnophobe, I have no f*****g clue how I managed to set up a tent and spend the next week in that cursed forest.
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22points
#6
Not sure how creepy this is, but I was on a week long camping trip with some friends and I woke up with a weasel sitting on my chest looking at me. I never knew I could scream that loud.
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21points
The freeze response to stress is what happens when your body doesn’t see either fighting or fleeing as adequate strategies. When your freeze response kicks in, you might feel stiff, cold, and numb, and have a sense of dread. You’re likely to have pale skin and either a decreasing or pounding heart rate.
If fight, flight, or freeze don’t work to counteract the threat, your fawn response might kick in. This response often occurs in people who grew up in violent environments and had to look for ways to survive. While fawning, you’re likely to:
- Be overly agreeable toward the threat
- Try to appear overly helpful
- Concern yourself with making the threat happy
#7
I was driving home after an extremely late night at work, I lived in the middle of nowhere, about a mile before I got there a woman covered in blood jumped out of the woods into the middle of the road screaming. I panicked and went around her then slammed on the breaks to help. Her boyfriend had beaten her and was currently chasing after her in the woods. I got her in my car and called the police, they met us at the hospital because I told them there was no way I was waiting on the side of the road when he was coming.
21points
#8
In advance, I apologize for poor English since it is not my first or even second language. I formed an Id just to narrate this.
I come from a village fairly up in the mountains, the mighty Karakoram Ranges. As most of you might have known about the last hiding place of Osama Bin Ladin, Abbotabad. My village is further 40 miles northwards as crow flies. By road it is almost 2 hours drive through mountain road and then, a mountain trail. Last leg of journey is upon foot, the place being a steep mountain side.
I grew up there, and my childhood and adolescence was spent in the Jungle that surrounded the village, in the mountain streams.
There were local lore and legends about the forest, which were universally believed in to.
When I was 19, or so, and was studying in an Abbottabad college, few of my friends decided to spend a few days trekking through the mountains. We were most interested to explore a cave, where, the legend says, a mountain spring just disappears. Supposedly, if you were lucky enough to go deep very deep in the cave, there was a Gold mine, with sand of Gold strewn by the stream. How ever, Djinns guard the place.
So, we gathered at my place, some 3 class fellows, from city. We were accompanied by 4 more from within my village. Thus, myself included, we formed a party of 8 young men.
I am speaking of 1973. We did not have any maps with us. We knew the general area, knew land marks, and except for three city guys, all knew how to move about in Jungle, and walk the mountains.
We walked, slept in the open, fished, ate wild fruits,and dried food from home and gossiped, as we trekked along. The ascent wassteep, unending with jungle all around.
A week later, we entered an area that we had never visited earlier. There were rocks, boulders, small springs and streams, and trees were less dense. We thought that the stream that disappears in to the cave must be around some where.
That night we were dog tired, after a very stiff climb, we took our meal, laid out our canvasses and were asleep very soon.
I have no idea how long did we sleep. How ever, I was woken up as I noticed some one brushing my hair. Just as I turned in my sleep and was to emit the standard cry-what is it? I found a hand over my mouth and a whisper, I am XXXX name of a friend, quite, shhh, wake up others just as I woke you up, no sound. Before I could even ask why? I heard sound of a woman giggling. Then a low humming sound. I woke up the next friend, who woke up the next. soon we all were fully awake, and hearing giggling, woman laughing around and then we heard heavy foot steps in the distance, Some one or thing very heavy was walking with heavy steps, slowly, but, towards us.
I had a torch on me. I turned it on. All we saw was trees, boulders, rocks, but, nothing else. It was all quiet .
Fearing that batteries would run out, I turned the switch off. We all huddled closer,packed the canvass sheets, and the bed sheets , some said in the darkness, put on your shoes, and make no noise. We just sat together on a moonless night and could not see much since clouds were blocking the star light.
We could hear the sound of a woman laughing and heavy steps walking around us. Finally, my patience ran out. I was young, very foolish, and, patience was not my virtue. I said it loud to my friends, I am not sitting like a chicken fearing the knife , let us see who is this thing. Surprisingly every one said, yes, we must.
We decided to talk louder then on, and if we had to move, we planned to stick very close, and in pairs. Column of 2 people in pairs, 4 pairs. Then some said, who are you, show us!. With in a few seconds we could feel that ground around had lot of folks . We turned on the lights, and we saw at least 10 -12 things surrounding us.
Not monkeys , there are many up there in mountains,but they were not monkeys at all. Not humans, but, human like. Hairy, broad,61/2- 7 feet tallish, but, not like gorillas either. Round, to elongated faces, dark hair covered them.
Then some said, the air smells weird. Some else said, must be their stink. But, no, it did feel different, and it was not a bad smell at all. Then we knew another thing, The forest was completely silent. The sound of nights in the jungle, insects, birds, wild animals, had stopped, The wind had stopped, It was abnormally silent. The wind gives a sound as it flows through jungle trees.
Then I turned the light ON again of my torch. Those things were gone. How ever, we all knew, they were watching us.
Some how we knew. I could feel eyes piercing my being even though it was dark. We all agreed that we were being watched very closely and intently.
Another friend took torch from me and pointed all around us. On a huge boulder, some 20 feet away, stood a giant looking at us. Same appearance as the rest, but, far taller. 7-8 feet tall. Looking at us. We began to panic. The very still air, total lack of any sound at all, darkness, and these freakish things , belief in Djinns/Demons, all began to act.
Then some said, do NOT run, IF we run, they will harm all of us. Stick together. Recite verses from Quran. And he spoke to that thing, Telling him that we came in peace, will not harm them, and bear no ill intent. Then we heard a giggle, and a woman approached us. She was dressed as a wealthy woman of that area, in mid 40s. Long hair, milky white, people in our region are fair btw.
She said in softest tone, do not get any further, We must return. Then she disappeared in the night. Just then, the jungle came back to life. Usual sounds of critters and insects, birds, air flowing through trees, the sound of air as it passes through trees. The strange things were -gone.
We stayed there waiting for the day break and returned.
Now am old, 65 years old. I am a grand father. I have seen many places. I do not know what did we encounter. I never returned to that area.
I come from a village fairly up in the mountains, the mighty Karakoram Ranges. As most of you might have known about the last hiding place of Osama Bin Ladin, Abbotabad. My village is further 40 miles northwards as crow flies. By road it is almost 2 hours drive through mountain road and then, a mountain trail. Last leg of journey is upon foot, the place being a steep mountain side.
I grew up there, and my childhood and adolescence was spent in the Jungle that surrounded the village, in the mountain streams.
There were local lore and legends about the forest, which were universally believed in to.
When I was 19, or so, and was studying in an Abbottabad college, few of my friends decided to spend a few days trekking through the mountains. We were most interested to explore a cave, where, the legend says, a mountain spring just disappears. Supposedly, if you were lucky enough to go deep very deep in the cave, there was a Gold mine, with sand of Gold strewn by the stream. How ever, Djinns guard the place.
So, we gathered at my place, some 3 class fellows, from city. We were accompanied by 4 more from within my village. Thus, myself included, we formed a party of 8 young men.
I am speaking of 1973. We did not have any maps with us. We knew the general area, knew land marks, and except for three city guys, all knew how to move about in Jungle, and walk the mountains.
We walked, slept in the open, fished, ate wild fruits,and dried food from home and gossiped, as we trekked along. The ascent wassteep, unending with jungle all around.
A week later, we entered an area that we had never visited earlier. There were rocks, boulders, small springs and streams, and trees were less dense. We thought that the stream that disappears in to the cave must be around some where.
That night we were dog tired, after a very stiff climb, we took our meal, laid out our canvasses and were asleep very soon.
I have no idea how long did we sleep. How ever, I was woken up as I noticed some one brushing my hair. Just as I turned in my sleep and was to emit the standard cry-what is it? I found a hand over my mouth and a whisper, I am XXXX name of a friend, quite, shhh, wake up others just as I woke you up, no sound. Before I could even ask why? I heard sound of a woman giggling. Then a low humming sound. I woke up the next friend, who woke up the next. soon we all were fully awake, and hearing giggling, woman laughing around and then we heard heavy foot steps in the distance, Some one or thing very heavy was walking with heavy steps, slowly, but, towards us.
I had a torch on me. I turned it on. All we saw was trees, boulders, rocks, but, nothing else. It was all quiet .
Fearing that batteries would run out, I turned the switch off. We all huddled closer,packed the canvass sheets, and the bed sheets , some said in the darkness, put on your shoes, and make no noise. We just sat together on a moonless night and could not see much since clouds were blocking the star light.
We could hear the sound of a woman laughing and heavy steps walking around us. Finally, my patience ran out. I was young, very foolish, and, patience was not my virtue. I said it loud to my friends, I am not sitting like a chicken fearing the knife , let us see who is this thing. Surprisingly every one said, yes, we must.
We decided to talk louder then on, and if we had to move, we planned to stick very close, and in pairs. Column of 2 people in pairs, 4 pairs. Then some said, who are you, show us!. With in a few seconds we could feel that ground around had lot of folks . We turned on the lights, and we saw at least 10 -12 things surrounding us.
Not monkeys , there are many up there in mountains,but they were not monkeys at all. Not humans, but, human like. Hairy, broad,61/2- 7 feet tallish, but, not like gorillas either. Round, to elongated faces, dark hair covered them.
Then some said, the air smells weird. Some else said, must be their stink. But, no, it did feel different, and it was not a bad smell at all. Then we knew another thing, The forest was completely silent. The sound of nights in the jungle, insects, birds, wild animals, had stopped, The wind had stopped, It was abnormally silent. The wind gives a sound as it flows through jungle trees.
Then I turned the light ON again of my torch. Those things were gone. How ever, we all knew, they were watching us.
Some how we knew. I could feel eyes piercing my being even though it was dark. We all agreed that we were being watched very closely and intently.
Another friend took torch from me and pointed all around us. On a huge boulder, some 20 feet away, stood a giant looking at us. Same appearance as the rest, but, far taller. 7-8 feet tall. Looking at us. We began to panic. The very still air, total lack of any sound at all, darkness, and these freakish things , belief in Djinns/Demons, all began to act.
Then some said, do NOT run, IF we run, they will harm all of us. Stick together. Recite verses from Quran. And he spoke to that thing, Telling him that we came in peace, will not harm them, and bear no ill intent. Then we heard a giggle, and a woman approached us. She was dressed as a wealthy woman of that area, in mid 40s. Long hair, milky white, people in our region are fair btw.
She said in softest tone, do not get any further, We must return. Then she disappeared in the night. Just then, the jungle came back to life. Usual sounds of critters and insects, birds, air flowing through trees, the sound of air as it passes through trees. The strange things were -gone.
We stayed there waiting for the day break and returned.
Now am old, 65 years old. I am a grand father. I have seen many places. I do not know what did we encounter. I never returned to that area.
21points
#9
Not sure if this is the kind of story you’re looking for, but it’s a fun one to tell so here you go.
I used to work in low income home weatherization, basically giving free s**t away to help lower electricity and gas bills and make the home more comfortable to people who really needed it; installing doors and insulation and so forth.
One step in qualifying a home is testing combustion appliances to make sure they’re not emitting carbon monoxide into the living space, because if they are and we seal up the house we could k**l the whole family.
During a pre-inspection of a home on the outskirts of the city, I ask to see the owner’s water heater. He tells me that it’s in the basement, which is fairly normal, and I tell him I have to inspect it before work can start. So, he goes into the kitchen and starts moving the refrigerator. Turns out the entry into the basement is underneath carpeting beneath the fridge. I should note that I went and did thousands of homes over the years, and had never seen such a thing.
But, whatever, needs to be done regardless and so I pull out my flashlight and shine it down the stairs, to check out the layout but really to look for black widow spiders because f**k black widows. At this point I notice a dead cat, mostly down to a skeleton. Not my favorite sight but really common in crawlspaces and basements. I take a few steps down the stairs and continue my spider check, and notice another couple of small animal skeletons.
At this point I start to worry about gas, or poisons, or something equally dangerous, and start looking closer. There are animal skeletons everywhere, at least ten on a cursory look. Some of them are so degraded I can’t determine what they used to be. I also happen to notice that this guy is waiting at the entrance a little too quietly, with his hand on the door.
Something clicks in my brain and I get this immense sense of danger. I’m about four steps from the door being clear to close, I have no partner on the job with me, there’s death all around me, and I realize just how hidden the entrance to the basement really was.
I noped the f**k out, told the guy I needed extra tools and would be back, and marked the job as non-feasible for health and safety as I was driving away. I have no idea if I was actually in any danger, it could have been completely innocent; but I still remember the adrenaline rush and sense of doom, and sometimes you just don’t take chances.
Also edit: I’m getting asked frequently if I reported this guy to the police, and there’s a lot of concern about the dead animals. I did not file a formal report, mainly because nothing I saw was entirely out of the ordinary. Crawlspaces and basements have venting at the base of the house, and it’s really common for animals to squeeze in and then not be able to get back out. If you have space under your house there’s a decent chance something has died down there. You get used to it when your job takes you down there frequently.
Now, this was an extreme case and clearly everything put together raised concern enough for me to get the f**k out, but the sad fact of working with low income families is that you see how lousy their lives can be. You learn not to do anything to make their lives any harder, and I took a lot of pride from the fact that my job made their lives just a bit better. I didn’t think that my being scared for a minute was enough to involve the police, you know?
I used to work in low income home weatherization, basically giving free s**t away to help lower electricity and gas bills and make the home more comfortable to people who really needed it; installing doors and insulation and so forth.
One step in qualifying a home is testing combustion appliances to make sure they’re not emitting carbon monoxide into the living space, because if they are and we seal up the house we could k**l the whole family.
During a pre-inspection of a home on the outskirts of the city, I ask to see the owner’s water heater. He tells me that it’s in the basement, which is fairly normal, and I tell him I have to inspect it before work can start. So, he goes into the kitchen and starts moving the refrigerator. Turns out the entry into the basement is underneath carpeting beneath the fridge. I should note that I went and did thousands of homes over the years, and had never seen such a thing.
But, whatever, needs to be done regardless and so I pull out my flashlight and shine it down the stairs, to check out the layout but really to look for black widow spiders because f**k black widows. At this point I notice a dead cat, mostly down to a skeleton. Not my favorite sight but really common in crawlspaces and basements. I take a few steps down the stairs and continue my spider check, and notice another couple of small animal skeletons.
At this point I start to worry about gas, or poisons, or something equally dangerous, and start looking closer. There are animal skeletons everywhere, at least ten on a cursory look. Some of them are so degraded I can’t determine what they used to be. I also happen to notice that this guy is waiting at the entrance a little too quietly, with his hand on the door.
Something clicks in my brain and I get this immense sense of danger. I’m about four steps from the door being clear to close, I have no partner on the job with me, there’s death all around me, and I realize just how hidden the entrance to the basement really was.
I noped the f**k out, told the guy I needed extra tools and would be back, and marked the job as non-feasible for health and safety as I was driving away. I have no idea if I was actually in any danger, it could have been completely innocent; but I still remember the adrenaline rush and sense of doom, and sometimes you just don’t take chances.
Also edit: I’m getting asked frequently if I reported this guy to the police, and there’s a lot of concern about the dead animals. I did not file a formal report, mainly because nothing I saw was entirely out of the ordinary. Crawlspaces and basements have venting at the base of the house, and it’s really common for animals to squeeze in and then not be able to get back out. If you have space under your house there’s a decent chance something has died down there. You get used to it when your job takes you down there frequently.
Now, this was an extreme case and clearly everything put together raised concern enough for me to get the f**k out, but the sad fact of working with low income families is that you see how lousy their lives can be. You learn not to do anything to make their lives any harder, and I took a lot of pride from the fact that my job made their lives just a bit better. I didn’t think that my being scared for a minute was enough to involve the police, you know?
20points
Having functional stress responses can protect you from danger. However, if you’re chronically stressed, your physical, mental, and emotional health will suffer. You’ll encounter lots of health problems, including a higher risk of cardiovascular disease, heart attacks, strokes, weight gain, etc.
Harvard Health suggests the following strategies to counter chronic stress:
- Physical exercise to relieve muscle tension and deepen breathing
- Movement therapies to promote calm and mental focus
- Social and emotional support from close family and friends
- Mental or physical grounding techniques to focus on the present
- Seeking help from your doctor or therapist
#10
In order to get back home from a popular kebab restaurant I need to walk a short path through the woods. Along the way there is an extremely old abandoned partially collapsed chapel and occasionally I'll stand there for a few seconds admiring it. It's quite beautiful in its own way. One day during winter season I decided to rest there for a minute so I placed my kebab on the bench right next to the chapel and just stood there taking in the scenery. It was already rather dark and the woods were almost completely silent but right as I was about to continue my walk I heard footsteps rapidly getting louder. It was a child running towards me and as soon as it realized I was there it started to repeatedly scream "Run, he is coming" or variations of that same sentiment. I was a bit perplexed by the situation so I watched the child run past me without moving an inch myself. It didn't take another second for a much more weighty pair of footsteps to appear. I could make out a silhouette in the distance which seemed to be their origin and at that exact point in time I got really scared. As opposed to running I decided to hide in the chapel next to the altar and after tripping over an old broken chapel bench I reached my hiding place. The footsteps got louder and louder but right as they approached the vicinity of the chapel they suddenly went silent. About 15 seconds of complete quietness had passed just for the words "Oi! You f*****g idiot left your kebab on the bench" to break the silence. Turns out it was a resident of the very same street I inhabit, his nephew was visiting and he wanted to race him to the kebab stand. I don't know whether this was the right place to post this, ultimately this is more stupid than creepy.
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19points
#11
I am a night owl so used to stay up late at the computer lab on my university campus. It was open until 2 am. I was walking home and there were about 4-6 people covered in burlap robes and giant hoods, sitting crosslegged on the quad.
The next morning, those f*****s were still there. It was a chicken wire and burlap f*****g art piece.
The next morning, those f*****s were still there. It was a chicken wire and burlap f*****g art piece.
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18points
#12
Felt like running at night last year because the park near where i live gets all pretty with the lights on in the dark.
So after 5 mins into the exercise, i feel the need to adjust my shoes because i forgot to wear a longer sock and they were hurting my ankle.
I look up and i see this dark silhouette running towards me at full speed wearing a hoodie about 50 meters away.
I was on the left side of the street and he was on the right so it was clear he was running towards me.
I legit almost shitted my pants and felt an adrenaline surge, i thought about fighting him if he got any closer, but in a blink of an eye, the person trips, falls face planted on the ground...and starts crawling in my f*****g direction again...
F**k that, dude is committed, I'm leaving.
So after 5 mins into the exercise, i feel the need to adjust my shoes because i forgot to wear a longer sock and they were hurting my ankle.
I look up and i see this dark silhouette running towards me at full speed wearing a hoodie about 50 meters away.
I was on the left side of the street and he was on the right so it was clear he was running towards me.
I legit almost shitted my pants and felt an adrenaline surge, i thought about fighting him if he got any closer, but in a blink of an eye, the person trips, falls face planted on the ground...and starts crawling in my f*****g direction again...
F**k that, dude is committed, I'm leaving.
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17points
Which of these stories gave you goosebumps, Pandas? What are the creepiest, most bone-chilling things you’ve witnessed while you were traveling in remote areas? What’s the scariest thing you’ve personally seen or felt in the woods? When you feel frightened, what’s your stress response: fight, flight, freeze, or fawn?
If you feel like spooking your fellow readers, feel free to share your stories in the comments, at the very bottom of this post!
#13
Walking on the beach with my boyfriend and we had walked to a giant rocky cliff to makeout. Somebody was just gazing at the ocean, crying and shaking. Mind you, this is late at night, like around 9:30 pm. We asked him if he was ok, he apologized and practically ran back down the cliff (away from the dangerous areas). My boyfriend and I watched him until he reached the public area and decided to call it a night. Im pretty sure he was going to jump.
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17points
#14
I was a cook onboard several NOAA research ships. Up in the Bering Sea, I saw what appeared to be a massive, black, triangular shaped craft dive under the water. I viewed it from a distance of maybe 2 nautical miles.
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17points
#15
I was hiking in northern Quebec, doing some exploration work for geologists. The thing about northern Quebec is that it has forests, mountains, hills. Pretty much all green, black and grey.
Except that in the middle of a forest we hiked through, we found this strange all yellow patch of grass in a perfect circle. About the diameter of a medium sized house. It was almost perfectly flat too. Caught us off guard.
Except that in the middle of a forest we hiked through, we found this strange all yellow patch of grass in a perfect circle. About the diameter of a medium sized house. It was almost perfectly flat too. Caught us off guard.
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16points
#16
In Auburn, AL in 2008. It was halloween and we googled haunted houses. I cant remember what the website was like or if there even was one, but it was like 45 min away. I know that it wasnt like a big attraction and we figured it was on someones land and would be like a local deal. We drove out there at like 10pm. This was before iphones and GPS so we had mapquest directions.
We ended up going down a pretty country road for a while with no street lights, then turned down a legit dirt road that went through the woods. Pitch black. Went down it for like 10 minutes and finally saw an old house with a sign by the driveway that was handwritten and said “Haunted House”. No other cars or lights or people anywhere We pulled in the driveway and sat there for a second like “alright this is f****d up, we should leave”.
All of the sudden an old pick up truck turned on about 15 ft in front of us facing us, lights shining right in our faces. It started driving towards us (down their own driveway).We backed out and peeled out. It followed us, like almost bumping our rear end. Right on our tail down this pitch black dirt road in the middle of the Alabama woods. We were flipping our s**t. It was texas chainsaw m******e/hills have eyes stuff. He stayed out our tail blinding us and almost bumping us all the way back home until we got off our exit and he finally let us go. No idea who was driving.
I always think what would have happened if we got out of the car when we were in that driveway.
We ended up going down a pretty country road for a while with no street lights, then turned down a legit dirt road that went through the woods. Pitch black. Went down it for like 10 minutes and finally saw an old house with a sign by the driveway that was handwritten and said “Haunted House”. No other cars or lights or people anywhere We pulled in the driveway and sat there for a second like “alright this is f****d up, we should leave”.
All of the sudden an old pick up truck turned on about 15 ft in front of us facing us, lights shining right in our faces. It started driving towards us (down their own driveway).We backed out and peeled out. It followed us, like almost bumping our rear end. Right on our tail down this pitch black dirt road in the middle of the Alabama woods. We were flipping our s**t. It was texas chainsaw m******e/hills have eyes stuff. He stayed out our tail blinding us and almost bumping us all the way back home until we got off our exit and he finally let us go. No idea who was driving.
I always think what would have happened if we got out of the car when we were in that driveway.
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15points
#17
There's a section of Joshua Tree National Park called "Samuelson's Rocks" where an old swedish prospector who lost his mind used to live. He carved all sorts of crazy sayings into the rocks. During the day they look pretty neat. At night in a lightning storm they look like something of of Lovecraft.
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14points
#18
Sounded like babies crying....it was coyotes. Creepiest thing though was when we saw a lone person just walking through the woods in the middle of nowhere. Idk why thats creepy but it is when your out there.
13points
#19
I was Boy Scout, camping with my group of older buddies and an adult leader in Yellowstone. We had been backpacking for two days and stopped in a beautiful little clearing at the bottom of some huge tree covered hills. The sun started to set, we made a fire, and I began to climb up into the trees to dig a hole and fill it back up. You know what I mean. As I squat there, basking in moonlight and appreciating the glow of fire among the trees, I looked up to a ridge line a few hundred yards away where the moon was rising, and I s**t you not I saw a D**N big cougar crest the hill and just watch our fire. It was likely no danger to me, but seeing that outline, that unmistakable shoulder crawl they do, was haunting. I watched it sit there for a good fifteen minutes until I was called back by my worried buds. I pointed the cat out the them when I got done because it was still just watching us. Crazy.
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12points
#20
Super long story, tl;dr nearly got m******d backpacking in rural Tasmania
My boyfriend and I were backpacking through rural Tasmania a few years ago. While on a bus, we were discussing our plans for the ensuing two weeks. The girl in the seat in front turns around and offers us a place to stay in her town. We declined as we were headed elsewhere first, but she gave us her mobile number and said that she and her partner would love to have us.
A few days later we decide to take them up on their offer. We call her, and she says they're happy to host us. So far so good.
They meet us at the train station and immediately something feels off. It's really difficult to explain, but it's that primal, ineffable feeling in your guts that tells you that something isn't right. We ignored our guts and followed them.
They lead us straight out of town. We ask them where we're going and they say that they live on the outskirts. This town is creepy as f**k. It's an old mining town that has been largely abandoned, and as we walk the 15-odd minutes to their home the houses get shittier, with boarded up windows, overgrown gardens and no people in sight.
Eventually we reach the house at the very end of the town. It's their house. We go in.
Set up in the middle of the living room is a single mattress with a sheet hanging around it. They show us around the house except for one door which stays closed. When I asked what was behind it they pretended not to hear. Our room has a made bed, chest of drawers and looks like a normal room. It seems weird that they sleep on mattresses in the living room when they have a "guest room".
We go back into the living room and look around. Knives. A lot of knives. My boyfriend asks if they go hunting? No. The partner hands one of the knives to my boyfriend and asks him to open it. It's a massive f*****g bowie knife with what looks like blood staining around the edges of the blade. My boyfriend laughs awkwardly and sets it down.
They have a tattoo gun - "to practice". My boyfriend asks if they have any tattoos. No. There's a small axe at the door. I ask if they collect wood. No.
Suddenly the guy says he wants to go to the shops. We agree quickly because we're creeped out and want to get back into the town.
The four of us leave and they start walking in the opposite direction to the town. I say that the town is back the other way. The guy says this way would be more interesting because it goes up through the trees. He says that they have never been up the mountain before but he knows the area and it would take the same amount of time.
I tell my boyfriend that I'm freaking out but he thinks it's ok. We follow them into the trees. The path goes up the mountain. We are going in the total opposite direction of the town.
The girl turns around to her partner and whispers - "so where was the place again?"
My boyfriend and I freeze. I say I want to take the road back to town and start walking.
When the four of us arrive in the one shop in town - no one recognises the couple. And this is a really small town. We make an excuse that we want to go look at sights and that we'll catch up with them later, and instead book a hotel room and freak out.
I did some snooping on the area. Their house had an extra room (behind the mystery door) and a basement. The path that we were taking led straight out of town and up the mountain. There was no way it could loop back into town.
So yeah pretty sure we narrowly avoided being m******d. Or maybe they were just massive weirdos. Tbh the creepiest thing was the fact that there was no d**g paraphernalia at all - the state of the house and the weird behaviour would have been understandable if they were intoxicated but that wasn't the case.
My boyfriend and I were backpacking through rural Tasmania a few years ago. While on a bus, we were discussing our plans for the ensuing two weeks. The girl in the seat in front turns around and offers us a place to stay in her town. We declined as we were headed elsewhere first, but she gave us her mobile number and said that she and her partner would love to have us.
A few days later we decide to take them up on their offer. We call her, and she says they're happy to host us. So far so good.
They meet us at the train station and immediately something feels off. It's really difficult to explain, but it's that primal, ineffable feeling in your guts that tells you that something isn't right. We ignored our guts and followed them.
They lead us straight out of town. We ask them where we're going and they say that they live on the outskirts. This town is creepy as f**k. It's an old mining town that has been largely abandoned, and as we walk the 15-odd minutes to their home the houses get shittier, with boarded up windows, overgrown gardens and no people in sight.
Eventually we reach the house at the very end of the town. It's their house. We go in.
Set up in the middle of the living room is a single mattress with a sheet hanging around it. They show us around the house except for one door which stays closed. When I asked what was behind it they pretended not to hear. Our room has a made bed, chest of drawers and looks like a normal room. It seems weird that they sleep on mattresses in the living room when they have a "guest room".
We go back into the living room and look around. Knives. A lot of knives. My boyfriend asks if they go hunting? No. The partner hands one of the knives to my boyfriend and asks him to open it. It's a massive f*****g bowie knife with what looks like blood staining around the edges of the blade. My boyfriend laughs awkwardly and sets it down.
They have a tattoo gun - "to practice". My boyfriend asks if they have any tattoos. No. There's a small axe at the door. I ask if they collect wood. No.
Suddenly the guy says he wants to go to the shops. We agree quickly because we're creeped out and want to get back into the town.
The four of us leave and they start walking in the opposite direction to the town. I say that the town is back the other way. The guy says this way would be more interesting because it goes up through the trees. He says that they have never been up the mountain before but he knows the area and it would take the same amount of time.
I tell my boyfriend that I'm freaking out but he thinks it's ok. We follow them into the trees. The path goes up the mountain. We are going in the total opposite direction of the town.
The girl turns around to her partner and whispers - "so where was the place again?"
My boyfriend and I freeze. I say I want to take the road back to town and start walking.
When the four of us arrive in the one shop in town - no one recognises the couple. And this is a really small town. We make an excuse that we want to go look at sights and that we'll catch up with them later, and instead book a hotel room and freak out.
I did some snooping on the area. Their house had an extra room (behind the mystery door) and a basement. The path that we were taking led straight out of town and up the mountain. There was no way it could loop back into town.
So yeah pretty sure we narrowly avoided being m******d. Or maybe they were just massive weirdos. Tbh the creepiest thing was the fact that there was no d**g paraphernalia at all - the state of the house and the weird behaviour would have been understandable if they were intoxicated but that wasn't the case.
12points