Do you know what distinguishes a good horror movie from a bad one? In a bad one, for a lot of money, vampires, zombies, werewolves, maniacs, and other bad guys take turns on the screen in a gloomy atmosphere—and yet, you are not scared at all. But in a good one, a hedgehog runs out onto a sunny lawn—and it suddenly gives us a shiver because of the damn suspense...
This is, of course, a joke—but in reality, sometimes, strange and disgusting things are done on the sly, without any loud effects. And it is precisely such stories that a recent interesting online thread has collected—a selection of some of the best tales from which we offer you a selection today.
More info: Reddit
#1
When I was a senior in high school, I had a friend over to my house. We were hanging out in the basement. It was late and I was ready to go to bed. I told my friend it was time to go. He said he would let himself out. I heard him walk upstairs, open the door, and shut the door. But I didn't hear the screen door shut, which means he didn't actually leave the house. I followed upstairs to investigate. The house was dark because everyone else was asleep. I turned on the living room light and found him kneeling on the floor next to the couch where my younger 12 year old sister was sleeping. She had a bedroom that she shared with another sister but preferred sleeping on the couch for some reason. I asked him what he was doing. He mumbled something that made no sense. I walked him out of the house to make sure he left. And broke off all contact with him after that. I later heard a rumor that he had m**ested his own younger sister.
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118points
#2
One time and a man follow me around the mall. He was quite sneaky about it and had I not been paying attention, I may not have even noticed. He would wait on the bench outside of the stores, until my 4th store I went into, he was inside as well but made sure to stay across the room and caddy-corner to where i was. He was on his phone the whole time and my gut was screaming at me to not go out to my car alone. I exited that store and found a security guard to walk me out. On the way out of the mall, the guard told me I was did the right thing cause that man followed me until he saw me approach the guard. Dont know what his intentions were, but I am certain they were not good.
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99points
#3
I was shopping in a women’s clothing store a few years ago and noticed a guy a few feet away from me also browsing through the racks. At one point I noticed some weird motion from him in my peripheral vision and turned to see him methodically wiping his d**k on each piece of clothing.
I immediately contacted the manager and called 911 and now all purchased clothing gets washed immediately after I bring it home. No exceptions.
I immediately contacted the manager and called 911 and now all purchased clothing gets washed immediately after I bring it home. No exceptions.
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87points
A little over a week ago, user u/Bibi_is_God asked a question of the AskReddit community: "What is the creepiest thing you have seen a person do?" As of today, the thread has 1.2K upvotes and almost 500 different stories, from the simply ridiculous and strange to the clearly eerie kind. Stories where we often don't know—and will never know—the plot or the ending. However, knowing all the ins and outs is not at all necessary to be truly scared...
#4
Saw some kids, around the age of 10 maybe, throwing rocks at some toads in ablond and laughing about it when their guts bursted out.
Told them to stop and they looked at me with a genuinely confused expression as if, why would hurting animals like that be wrong at all?
Idk just gave me the creeps and I wonder what kind of persons they are now.
Told them to stop and they looked at me with a genuinely confused expression as if, why would hurting animals like that be wrong at all?
Idk just gave me the creeps and I wonder what kind of persons they are now.
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86points
#5
Didnt see it but my college dorm roommate was showering in the common bathroom, when he looked up and saw a phone recording him inside. He immediately opened the stall door, ran after the guy totally naked and shouted at me (i was in our room) to come help. Turned out one of the dormers had been filming him couple times. The case reached the university tribunal that led to the creep’s dismissal.
85points
#6
I've had a pretty lucky life. Worst I've seen is a 35 year old man admitting he came to my church solely to ask my newly 18 year old sister to be his girlfriend. He had already asked me (29, but I was 18 when he asked), my sister (31, 17 or so when he asked), and my other little sister (21, 20 when he asked) and been rejected. He had known our family since my littlest sister was an infant. He told her she'd "blossomed into a woman". He's the only person the pastor (my father) has told to leave our church and not come back.
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83points
Why do people do something strange and inexplicable? The easiest answer is that "people are strange," as Jim Morrison used to sing. And secondly, to understand the many mysterious situations we witness in life, you also need to know their context—then it will become clear.
For example, let's say we see—from the window of a bus or a car—one person chasing another. A few seconds, and that's it. The bus leaves, the chase has disappeared from our sight, and we never find out what happened.
It could have been a cop chasing a thief or, on the contrary, a criminal chasing a victim. Maybe it was a husband trying to catch up with his wife's lover, whom he caught red-handed, or a secret service agent chasing an elusive alien in the body of an earthling...
#7
I went on a singular date with a very mentally unstable person. He’d done a decent job of pretending to be somewhat normal leading up to the date, but throughout the few hours I spent with him he slowly started to unravel. He started revealing to me about how he’d been arrested, recently got out of jail, how he hated his entire family, then the real icing on the cake was me telling him I didn’t really know how to make southern food because I wasn’t from the south to which he said;
“You’ll learn.” Very sternly. Then he asked if I was okay with sleeping on an air mattress with him, because he wanted me to come over and cook for him.
Noped the f**k away from that.
“You’ll learn.” Very sternly. Then he asked if I was okay with sleeping on an air mattress with him, because he wanted me to come over and cook for him.
Noped the f**k away from that.
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80points
#8
One of my employees sent me a picture of a young women bending over to reach into the cooler.
A) Why would you do that?
B) Why would then decide to send that picture to your BOSS with a bunch of drooling emojis.
Just no.
A) Why would you do that?
B) Why would then decide to send that picture to your BOSS with a bunch of drooling emojis.
Just no.
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68points
#9
I was going home after seeing my boyfriend at the time. It's late at night roads are clear. I pull up to a stop light on the edge of town I'm talking in the rear view mirror I can see city but through the windshield there's nothing but corn fields. I see movement out of the corner of my eye and I'm expecting a deer but I realize I'm looking at a person hunched over holding a crowbar clearly trying not to be seen. I ran that red light and got out of there as fast as I could.
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67points
Our imagination works in such a way that it "thinks things up" for us, giving a fleeting scene details that correspond to our mood and the circumstances in which we saw this or that in action. This is, by the way, how literature works—that is, of course, if it's good literature. The author outlines the general idea, gives us slight hints—and we perceive everything else ourselves.
#10
Guy in my class about 10 years ago. Not so much on the spectrum as the spectrum was on him.
Had his homework on a mini Seagate drive, and asks the teacher to plug in so he can transfer the homework over. As soon as teacher clicks on the external drive, there's a s**t-ton of folders called "I know where you live" that were probably just like him gathering dirt on other classmates. This was a few months after he made memes about a classmate's su***de. Actual psychopath behaviour.
Had his homework on a mini Seagate drive, and asks the teacher to plug in so he can transfer the homework over. As soon as teacher clicks on the external drive, there's a s**t-ton of folders called "I know where you live" that were probably just like him gathering dirt on other classmates. This was a few months after he made memes about a classmate's su***de. Actual psychopath behaviour.
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66points
#11
Seen? Not sure. But my ex wife has had stalkers. The story on one of them took the cake.
Her fam had a summer home in Maine, in the middle of the woods, overlooking the ocean. The back patio has huge glass window/ doors that has a full view of the ocean & the woods. It's really beautiful during the day. During the night, however, it was f*****g scary. It's dark & you couldn't see outside...but the outside could see you!
So, she told me one night she was home alone, she kept getting calls (this was the late 90s) telling her, "Whitney...I can see you..." This f*****g creep would even describe what she was wearing & all that s**t. She turned off the lights & ran up stairs with a knife.
She still didn't figure out who he was.
Her fam had a summer home in Maine, in the middle of the woods, overlooking the ocean. The back patio has huge glass window/ doors that has a full view of the ocean & the woods. It's really beautiful during the day. During the night, however, it was f*****g scary. It's dark & you couldn't see outside...but the outside could see you!
So, she told me one night she was home alone, she kept getting calls (this was the late 90s) telling her, "Whitney...I can see you..." This f*****g creep would even describe what she was wearing & all that s**t. She turned off the lights & ran up stairs with a knife.
She still didn't figure out who he was.
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59points
#12
When I was around 14, a woman (about 50-60 years old) who was known throughout my neighborhood as being creepy (looking through windows, digging through trash, etc.) approached my younger brother and I while we were walking home from a neighbor’s house about a block away. She asked us if we wanted to come to her house at midnight for a laser tag party with her and her kids, not all that odd except for her huge forced smile, and the fact that this “party” was at midnight when we had school the next day.
Discovered a few weeks later that the kids she mentioned were the 5-6 children she adopted all at once. None of them were very well adjusted, and were bullies to the other kids on the street, we also saw all the kids being taken away in police cars, whatever that was about.
Discovered a few weeks later that the kids she mentioned were the 5-6 children she adopted all at once. None of them were very well adjusted, and were bullies to the other kids on the street, we also saw all the kids being taken away in police cars, whatever that was about.
56points
In fact, what makes a story truly frightening are the unusual, scary aspects of ordinary things and people. When they do something—or when something happens to them—that we don't actually expect.
"We're used to the normal stuff. We've probably all had good times in a hotel. Many of us live in regular houses. We watch TV. Our children have dolls and other toys. And in a scary story, these normal settings and objects take on new, frightening aspects," this dedicated post on Twiain.com says.
In any case, the understatement, the unpredictability, and the inexplicability—that's what makes most of these stories so frightening. Or, the people described were simply bad. That, alas, is also the sad yet true reality of our lives...
#13
When i was 12 I packed my bags to go visit my dad for the weekend and I was standing outside my gate waiting for my dad. Across from my apartment there was a garage/feul station. And then i saw this dude looking at me and walking straight toward me with a purpose.
A car cut him off before he crossed the street and I used that as my window to get back inside the main gate of the apartments . When he saw that I was back inside he looked very disappointed and turned around and walked away.
I don't know if that dude wanted to kidnap me or r**e me but a kid standing with a bag of clothes probably looked like i was planning to run away or something. And i assume he wanted to capitalize on that. He looked to be in his 30s and i was a 12 year old boy. I could only assume the worst if that dude managed to grab me or something.
A car cut him off before he crossed the street and I used that as my window to get back inside the main gate of the apartments . When he saw that I was back inside he looked very disappointed and turned around and walked away.
I don't know if that dude wanted to kidnap me or r**e me but a kid standing with a bag of clothes probably looked like i was planning to run away or something. And i assume he wanted to capitalize on that. He looked to be in his 30s and i was a 12 year old boy. I could only assume the worst if that dude managed to grab me or something.
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53points
#14
We have several "admirers" at the pet shop I work at. They come in during work hours and ask about certain girls, and leave gifts for them. Some of them are married. Can't take a hint either. It's so cringy and gross and creepy. .
52points
#15
I got in to my car to go to work, at like 5am, when I start to reverse I see a guy in all black crawling on all 4s toward my car from the street. I f*****g floored it and took off.
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49points
In any case, we sincerely believe that reading this selection will be interesting and also useful for many of you. Perhaps, if in the future something strange and unexpected happens to you, too—you'll already know or assume what it is. And, accordingly, you'll better understand how to react. After all, as the ancient Romans said, "Forewarned is forearmed..."
#16
I was at the ER waiting to be seen. There was a hospital janitor going around with her cart cleaning. I didn’t have much to do so I was watching her. She was wiping down the counter in the triage area and she leaned over and licked the counter. A long lick then went back to cleaning.
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48points
#17
Describe his wet dreams to me and how I was usually in them. I was 11.
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48points
#18
My dad agreed to pick up one of my friends from work. She was closing up the shop so it was around 1am when we picked her up. On the way to her apartment was a railroad crossing. This particular crossing is notoriously uneven and rough. You have to slow down to a near stop to go over them. There's no street lights by these tracks either. As we slowed down to go over them a man jumped out from the dip at the side of the tracks and grabbed our rear passenger door. Luckily the car had automatic locks. My dad gunned it. Thankfully we had taken my brother in laws suv because his car was broken down. His car didn't lock.
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45points
#19
My cousin got catfished by his GF's mom. His GF's mom created a Facebook and other social media accounts for a fictitious person, introduced herself to my cousin and started chatting with him on a daily basis over the course of a few months in order to "test him" to make sure he'd be loyal to her daughter... The GF didn't seem to think this was a big deal, that her mother kinda tried to seduce her boyfriend "as a test", and my cousin was apparently completely blind to this giant red flag...
That was a few years ago and he's still with the same GF. We were all pretty surprised he didn't nope the f**k out of there the minute he found out about the catfishing because that's some totally f****d up behaviour from this lady, but then again my cousin is kind of an idiot (and on that note we're also surprised his GF is still with him because he's such a complete idiot).
That was a few years ago and he's still with the same GF. We were all pretty surprised he didn't nope the f**k out of there the minute he found out about the catfishing because that's some totally f****d up behaviour from this lady, but then again my cousin is kind of an idiot (and on that note we're also surprised his GF is still with him because he's such a complete idiot).
42points
