40 Of The Eeriest Things Kids Have Ever Said To People That Sent Chills Down Their Spines

People often hear how children can unintentionally say things that leave everyone around them gasping, hoping their ears are playing tricks on them. But kids will be kids — very curious little creatures — and they will always sneak up on us with their surprising insights. And as you can see from these stories, the bizarre questions and statements that stand right on the edge of that muddy line between fantasy and reality are just a few of the ideas they come up with.

However, while most of us see their mysterious wisdom as another way of letting their inner creative genius shine through, people who lean toward the supernatural can become easily spooked. Let’s be real, hearing about their disturbing imaginary friends or a ghost begging for help in the attic is horror movie material right there. But at least it makes life anything but boring.

For some people, children’s fertile imaginations can make them challenge their beliefs about ghosts and reincarnation. There are volumes upon volumes of theories online about how children can communicate with the spirit world. They are usually based on the idea that the little ones don’t have conventional norms fully “installed” in them and spend their days in imaginary fantasy lands. However, that doesn’t seem to be the case.

“Children actually are quite good at making the distinction between fantasy and reality at quite a young age, so I don’t [think] they say these things because they’re confused,” Jacqueline D. Woolley, a psychology professor at the University of Texas who researches children’s evaluation and understanding of reality, told Bored Panda. She believes children often say things to find out what adults will say, as a way to gain information about the world.

“Once they’ve made the fantasy-reality distinction regarding basic things, they need to figure out where unfamiliar or novel things fit in. Saying something that might seem eerie to an adult might be a child’s way of gathering information,” the professor explained.

It’s important to note that many of the eerie and spooky stories the little ones say aloud may arise from miscommunication between them and the adults. We might build our own interpretations and give much more meaning to their quotes, making them scarier than they were meant to be.

When asked why there are so many theories about kids allegedly seeing ghosts or conjuring up stories about them, Woolley told us there are a couple of reasons. “One, I think people like the idea of children believing in fantastical beings, and so they pay special attention when kids seem to do that.”

“Second, children are very good at figuring out what adults believe and at gathering information about the world from what adults tell them. If a child lives in a household in which family members endorse certain kinds of beings then it’s likely that a child will try to fit in by attempting to do so as well,” the professor said, explaining how kids have a tendency to be like sponges soaking up everything around them.

When children report visits from the other side or point at obscure objects only they can see, you can’t help but wonder how they think of these paranormal stories. “They probably come up with these things because they hear their parents saying similar things,” the professor said.

But try to stay calm if your little dreamer starts telling you similar unearthly stories and listen to the advice Wolley has to give you. “I think it’s always good to probe kids’ feelings about things — maybe ask them if what they saw was friendly, if they wanted to be its friend. Or maybe if it was scary, ask what was scary about it. Listen to your child’s feelings and try to work from them,” she concluded.