It’s curious how a few tell-tale signs can make us immediately uneasy in a “mundane” situation. A sudden chill wind, the unexpected slamming of a door, or a person who smiles just a little too wide. We might not even notice it at first until those hairs on the back of our necks stand up and we feel a wave of goosebumps roll over us.
One internet user wanted to hear the eerie, creepy, and unexplainable encounters others have had. These range from good old sleep paralysis to Civil War ghosts. So, prepare to pre-game Halloween, get cozy, start scrolling, upvote your favorites, and share any similar stories in the comments.
#1
I’m a medic and firefighter. We once had a call for something normal, like chest pain or something, I can’t remember. The caller said he was in his barn/garage, which isn’t weird really around here.
Anyway we pull up on scene and something just felt off. No idea why but something just told me in my gut that something was wrong.
I decided to do a 360 around the building before we went through the door at the front that was clearly the entrance. I walk around and come to a window on the side of the building and look in.
There was a shotgun rigged to the door. The guy had set a booby trap for us. And he had hung himself as well.
We kicked in this plexiglass type material on the side of the building and entered that way. Guy was dead. Nothing we could do about it at that point.
I would have been the first through that door. No idea why I didn’t just walk through it that day.
I’ve posted this before but I feel it’s a decent story.
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304points
#2
Years ago, I worked the late shift at a hospital (4pm-midnight). My nightly drive home led me through back roads of fields and woods which often had low hanging fog - particularly in early spring.
I lived in a small town that has a lot of civil war history. Ghost stories were so popular that area historians would do moonlight “ghost walks” where they searched for signs of restless spirits roaming the battlefield. The urban legend was that, in a war that pitted brother against brother, those soldiers who were killed by family became souls that were never at rest.
I never bought into it, but one night under particularly dense fog did scare the ever living c**p out of me.
At around 1am, as I sped through curves and hills, I saw the outline of 2 figures walking along the side of the road. The closer I got, the more I slowed down as I didn’t want to hit them or anything. By the time I passed them, I was going probably 10 mph.
First I noticed their weirdly shaped hats. Then, the buttons on their jackets glimmered in my headlights.
I swear to God, there were 2 Civil war soldiers walking in the fog in the moonlight. I could not breathe.
The taller one, thin and gangly, looked up at my car and put his hand towards me.
I hit the gas so hard. My transmission could barely keep up. I sped off into the night and, when I finally caught my breath, screamed several expletives.
As I rounded another curve, I saw a small car - a geo metro, pulled over with lights flashing. It’s hood was up and steam was coming from the engine.
A man in civil war garb stood close by staring at it with his hands on his hips.
Damn reenactors were in town for some event and had car problems. To this day I have no clue why they were out so late.
About scared me to death.
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219points
#3
When I was 13-14 years old, some older boys threw rocks from a demolition site at me and my friend. One rock hit me in the face and knocked me down. I started bleeding profusely on the sidewalk and my friend was freaking out. We did not have cell phones since it was the 1990s and weren't near a payphone.
An older man in his 50s or 60s stopped in a pickup truck and asked us to get in. My friend was like OMG - but I said, No let's get in - it's fine.
This older man felt really trustworthy, but I didn't know why. My friend got in with me and he drove us straight to the hospital.
The hospital took his name, my friend's, and mine when we got to the ER, and the man peaced out. I had problems from the injury for 2-3 years, but I'm fine now, other than a small dent in my skull.
My mom told me I should look him up in the phone book and call to thank him.
There was exactly 1 name that matched his (it was an unusual name). I called it. The woman who picked up told me he had died 6 months earlier -but his physical description matched what both my friend and I recalled. I was able to look up his obituary and the photo matched his appearance.
It was definitely eerie, and to this day, I don't really have any explanation for it.
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173points
Now, some of these stories involve actual, physical things that happened, but often eeriness is best described as a feeling. We love spooky stories in the right context, but eeriness comes from something we can’t quite place our finger on, either literally or figuratively. For example, the uncanny valley, where something appears to be mostly human but artificial enough to put us on edge.
People with a good sense of fantasy have run rampant with the idea. Why does this instinct exist, they might ask, why do we have an evolutionary fear of something that looks almost like us? A danger-sense of aliens, skinwalkers, or something else? As much as I love these concepts, the truth is probably a bit more morbid but mundane. Corpses. We fear corpses since they are likely vectors for disease and also indicate that a human died here, meaning there is something dangerous about.
#4
I guess this a small world kinda thing rather than truly paranormal, but I was an ER tech and while restraining an unruly drunk patient, he spat in my face, swung at me, and threatened to kill my family. He got a continuance on charges so it was an ongoing case.
One day about 8 months later I got on the train and was buried in my phone. I heard behind me “Thank you for saving my life.”
I look behind and it was him. He apologized profusely, told me he was sober, and scribbled a free meal coupon on a page of his sudoku book for a restaurant he had found work at.
I dropped the charges. I hope he’s still doing well.
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163points
#5
One of my favorite aunts died at 94, leaving my elderly dad a much needed sum of money for his care. He had been recently “IOU” conned out of his entire savings while also left in deep debt by a man from a neighboring county & I was working w/the DA from 1,200 miles away to build a case against him, all of which was unknown to my aunt upon her death.
I had POA for my dad by then and was at the bank on a Sat. morning to collect the inheritance check. Myself & the manager were the only people there, so she directed me to the only desk in the lobby rather than her office. After sharing with her the circumstances that had brought me there & finalizing paperwork, she left to process a cashiers check in another area.
Before putting away my aunt’s death certificate, I placed my palm on it whispering a prayer of gratitude to her for generously providing for my dad. At that moment, out of the corner of my left eye I saw movement . A coin was rolling across the carpet floor and spun to a stop four feet to my direct left. Stunned, I got up and retrieved it looking around for the source. It came from the direction of the floor to ceiling lobby window, brightly lit by sun. No one was around, inside or out. I had goosebumps.
When the manager came back, I told her what had just happened, showed her the penny & asked if she had any possible explanation. She told me no change was kept in that area of the bank, it had been cleaned the night before & I was the only customer so far. I half jokingly said “it’s definitely my aunt then, letting me know it’s going to be okay”. The manager came around the desk & gave me a heartfelt hug.
The conman was successfully convicted for fraud, elder abuse, etc. & sent to prison w/max sentence. I was able to ensure my dad was debt free, comfortable, cared for & safe until his peaceful death. I carry that penny with me to this day.
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160points
#6
The day after my dad died, I laid down and took a long nap. I was exhausted from the visitors and the questions and the reminders that he was gone, so I just wanted to escape for awhile.
During that nap, I dreamt a strange dream. I was back in the hospital again and I saw my dad surrounded by doctors and hooked to all kinds of wires and IVs. I cried and told them to leave him alone and that he had suffered enough, but my dad told me not to cry, and it was then that I noticed they were actually removing the wires and IVs from him. He stood up, which was something he hadn’t done in a long time, and asked me to walk with him.
He was wearing a long white robe and together we walked through a beautiful place next to a stream. I was telling him about how we had seen the Avengers recently and how his favorite superhero, The Hulk, had been in it. I laughed as I explained the scene where Hulk slams Loki around like a rag doll and said, “Oh my god. That would have been your favorite part. You would have died laughing.” My dad said, “Poor choice of words,” but he was smiling. I said, “Yeah, true. Sorry dad.”
His smile went away and then he looked at me seriously, and said, “It’s alright. You know, I didn’t really want to die.”
…and then I woke up. I had tears streaming down my face, and to this day I have never had another dream like that again. I’ve always been skeptical of the unknown but sometimes I wonder if he was saying goodbye to me in the only way he could. I still miss him every day of my life.
If I could have just one more dream with him, I would be so happy.
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133points
Fear itself is a pretty wide spectrum. Many of the tales here zero in on the specific feeling of chills, nervousness, and goosebumps. When we call something “chilling,” it’s not a misnomer, our body does actually feel a rush of cold. This kind of “fear” mostly comes in that gray space between truly feeling in danger and the brain starting to recognize patterns of danger. A tiger in the wild, for example, is a clear and present danger. Creepiness is more a result of the brain feeling in danger without quite knowing why.
#7
I work at a hospital and like to take a walk around it before I start work. It is usually dark, and I feel safer walking there. I passed a car, stopped in the middle of the road, and I heard a loud RUN in my head. I literally said, "I'm not going to run," and I heard it again louder, so I took off running and then heard running behind me. I didn't stop until I got to the street in front of the hospital door, I turned around, and there were two men chasing me. I hate to think what would've happened if i didn't run, I think about that all the time.
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123points
#8
My ex and I lived in a remote part of Northern Nevada. The house was literally in the middle of a field and our neighbors were far away. He worked nights and I never liked how dark and quiet it was.
On a night he was working, I fell asleep and had a dream about him. In the dream, he was standing on the edge of a cliff (like the Grand Canyon), looking out at the view. I tried many times to get his attention but he wouldn't acknowledge me. He was just staring straight ahead.
After ignoring me for a while, he abruptly turned to me and grabbed the outside of my arms firmly. His face looked panicked and he said, "(name), there's somebody in the house."
Like the movies, my eyes shot open and I woke up with my blood running cold. I lay in bed silently, listening for any sound. I was even *more* terrified when the dog woke up almost immediately, started barking, and ran out his dog door, into the yard. What did he hear?
I never saw or heard anything out of place. I couldn't see anything outside in the dark. The dog came back in and fell asleep. I stayed up the rest of the night, totally creeped out.
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115points
#9
Sleep paralysis. I've had 2 episodes in my life, but the first one will stick with me forever.
My bed was in a corner of my room. My closet was in the opposite corner. No door on the closet, and it was stacked with a ton of junk (community storage for the household as I never used it).
I wake up lying on my back, with the door in line of sight. I can see that it's full. But I can also see a hand slide out and grip the door frame. Pale and feminine. Followed by the slowly emerging frame of a very tall woman clad in a white, victorian era dress.
She was almost pretty, aside from something in her face that wasn't quite right. I couldn't tell you what it was, but I remember being uneasy about it. For a while, probably about 15 minutes, she just stood there, talking to herself. I wasn't able to make out anything she said, but that's when the panic set in. I realized I couldn't move or speak, couldn't look away, and had no idea what was happening, as I felt fully awake.
Then she stopped, looked me in the eye and smiled, and the corners of her mouth pulled back to her ears. Terrifying. She started to approach, and slowly opened her mouth so wide, her chin was touching where I'd estimate the bottom of her ribcage sat. It wasn't long before I could smell her rotten breath, and she began to crawl on top of me.
The entire time, she was letting out this awful, multi-toned moan that sounded like 5 voices at once, all distorted. I could feel her weight resting on my chest. I couldn't breathe or scream as she inched closer. She put my entire head in her mouth, and I fully woke up when all I could see was darkness.
I still get a bit panicky remembering that one. It felt so real.
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112points
Despite popping up when perhaps we don’t want it to, this feeling has an evolutionary advantage. Our brains are relatively clever, we can recognize patterns. Even more cleverly, we can recognize patterns that we haven’t experienced. True crime enthusiasts, for example, can be well aware of certain dangers without ever being the victim of a crime themselves. The advantage of this is that our brain will tell us we might be in danger before we consciously understand it.
#10
This happened in the early to mid 70’s to a female teacher of mine. We’ll call her Sandy.
She was housesitting for a couple who were out of town for a few months. It was an old three story house the couple had restored. It was a dark night and it was raining outside.
Sandy was watching tv but she kept feeling uneasy. She felt like someone was watching her. Over and over again she’d look around and see nothing but the feeling wouldn’t go away. Finally, she firmly decided that she was just being silly and started ignoring the feeling.
That’s when the man attacked her.
That’s when the man attacked her.
Sandy struggled with him, pushed him down and grabbed an old heavy antique table lamp. As he came back at her, she swung the lamp hard with both hands and cracked him right in the head with it. He dropped unconscious and bleeding.
She called the cops. He ended up in prison and physically messed up for the rest of his life.
Sandy was a teacher and a tennis coach. I imagine it was the most satisfying swing of her life.
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100points
#11
This happened last year. I was having a recurring dream where I was in the woods at night. I noticed a campfire in the distance. Whoever was sitting at the fire notices me and yells out "hey! What are you doing out here?" and starts moving towards me until I wake up. Late last summer I decided to go out to the woods for a hike. Once I got out there, I needed to pee. I hopped off of the trail to get closer to the creek so I could take care of business and not worry about anyone walking up on me. As I approached the creek, I see a hidden shelter and a man setting up a campfire. When he noticed me, he said "hey! What are you doing out here?" Nothing else happened. I apologized and went on my way. It was the only time in my life that I had dreams of an event before it happened. I was pretty shook at the time.
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95points
#12
I was a manager of computer repair for a retailer a couple year ago. We had a clients computer in the back running various malware and virus scans. I was doing morning paperwork in the back near the computer. This pc had its screen saver on displaying random photos from the My pictures folder, various family members, children's birthday parties the usual stuff. then from then of my eye I swear to god I saw a picture of a woman from the shoulders up with her throat cut. As soon as I realized what I was making out I directed my full attention and it was back to photos of a car show. As they day went on I though nothing of it and proceeded continue my work until I was bringing another customers pc to the back to work on and again from my peripheral I could have sworn I saw a bloody body in bound in a trunk of a car. At that moment I began to freak out. I grabbed one of my employees explained to him the situation. We then sat for 10 minutes and watched this screen saver (It is against company policy to search through the clients personal files without absolute just cause.) We then proceeded to see a photo 2 bodies in a shallow grave out in the woods and another photo of a severed hand down in kitchen drawer. I then went and got the general manager and informed him of the situation and had him view this screen saver. We then felt that I would be in everyone's best interest to contact Law Enforcement. In about 15 minutes later owner of the computer and another gentleman show up I proceed to tell him that his computer is not ready and it will be awhile. He then informs me that he was called there because someone reported there was some photographs of a grisly murder that we had found. I showed him his computer and then his partner then begins to laugh at him. Apparently he went against Police policy and took some of his work home with him and had never noticed his work photos were being used as a screen saver.
**TLDR** a Detective unknowingly brings me his computer filled with gory homicide pictures that get mixed in with his screen saver. I soil myself thinking I am dealing with a murder, Call the cops and the Detective returns to investigate his own computer.
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94points
On the other hand, this does mean that we also might feel in danger in situations that do not warrant it. Horror movies really do make dark rooms seem considerably more sinister than they should be. A historical recreation enthusiast is generally not something to fear, but add some fog and you have a verifiable ghost on hand. Our brains are recognizing patterns they have seen in films, which would be a useful skill if you only watched documentaries. However, it’s no surprise that the majority of media consumption is precisely fictional.
#13
I was driving home per usual and got this random, unwavering feeling that my house had been broken into. I kind of laughed and said “please don’t let my house have actually been broken into” out loud as I turned the corner onto my street. The first thing I noticed when I pulled up to the house were the blinds on my bedroom window. They were yanked around and twisted up. Some guy that lives across the street turned out to have been stalking me and decided to climb through my bedroom window. He took nothing valuable. Just some weird personal items. It was terrifying to walk in and see my things rummaged through. It was even scarier when I talked to the neighbor and they admitted that multiple people in the neighborhood had seen it happen, but they were all too scared of ol’ dude to say anything. The weirdest part of it all (and I mean this guy took some *creepy* personal things) is that nagging feeling I had before I found the remnants of the break in. I swear I knew before I knew, and that was such an eerie feeling.
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85points
#14
Was watching out of my bedroom window after bed, about 13yrs old and saw a man walking his dog in the street (suburban) when he dropped and didn't move. The howling and anguish of the Labrador still pervades my thoughts occasionally. The man had passed by heart attack.
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81points
#15
I've had several eerie encounters in my life, but I'd like to lighten the post with one of the more positive ones I experienced.
We had a farm and I was having a very bad day. The goats had gotten out, my schedule was off, I had to drive an hour each way to get groceries and lots of things I needed were out of stock. It was just one thing after the other and I was just not having it.
Our fridge wasn't leveled, so whenever I put groceries away, I had to prop it open with a shoe or the door would close. But you know how people get when they're frustrated and pissy - I didn't want to get the shoe to prop the fridge open. So the fridge door kept closing on me and I was just getting increasingly angry.
Then, for no apparent reason at all, the door gently opened wide and stayed open. I finished putting the groceries away and stepped back. The door gently closed. I said, "Thank you" out loud just in case and went on with my day.
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77points
There are other evolutionary features at play as well. As sentient creatures, we recognize that there are other sentient or at least intelligent beings out there. This is sometimes called agent detection. Imagine hiking through the woods and seeing what might be the indentation of a bear’s paw print. Most humans recognize that bears can be pretty dangerous, so without even confirming it’s presence, a human will modify their behavior to protect themselves. For example, I would just go home.
#16
Facinated by the many plagues on ancient rome and the fact we hadn't had a big pandemic since 1917, I started writing a dystopian novel about one in 2016 as a satire on our (america') lack of public healthcare. The novel was set in December 2022. Oh so close!
75points
#17
when i was very young and first started wearing makeup, i stopped by a pharmacy before going home from making a school project with my peers at their house. i ordered a cab and stayed at the entrance of the store near the auto doors. a VERY old tall man came in and flirted with me. i froze and he towered over me. he grabbed my face. i think his grip really scared me back then. he said he'd be back and went inside. people walked past and nobody spoke up. when the taxi came i ran inside and cried.
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74points
#18
No one in my house smokes, yet one night, we smelled cigarette smoke upstairs in our office and bedroom, couldn't figure it out and chalked it up to someone walking outside (poor insulation in the house) despite it lingering a bit.
Next night got a call my dad (who'd smoked for decades) had suffered a heart attack that ended up being fatal.
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70points
#19
I was walking to a college class and felt as if I'd suddenly stepped outside of my body and was watching myself move around like a puppeteer. It lasted for about 10 minutes while I called a parent to ground myself to reality. Happened again the next week for a smaller amount of time.
I'm guessing it was some kind of stress-induced disassociation episode, since it was midterms season and my first semester away from home.
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67points
#20
One time my husband and I were lying in bed and the bottom drawer to his nightstand slammed shut. There was no logical explanation for why that happened and we still don’t understand to this day!
Edited to add: I should clarify that we were both awake when this happened. We were just lying there reading and playing on our phones and we both heard the drawer shut clear as day! My husband has a habit of keeping his lower drawer open and we looked over and it was closed. Very weird!
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66points