“What Is The Creepiest Or Most Unexplained Thing That’s Happened To You That You Still Think About To This Day?” (30 Stories)

"Experiencing stories about death and evil from a safe distance is like a dress rehearsal for the inevitable grief we'll experience in life—even our own demise. Look, we all know what's coming in the end and it's a lot to handle. We need healthy ways to process the notion that we have an expiration date. Scary stories about death give us that," Doug explained to us.

In Doug's view, people are innately very curious. That means that we like diving into scary and uncomfortable stories.

"I think people are programmed with curiosity from birth. We want to open the door, push the button, taste the fruit. We want to see what happens. When we experience the truly inexplicable, it's kind of a hint that there's more to existence than what we can perceive. For a lot of us, even if the details are full of things that scare the pants off us, that's a weird kind of comfort."

Doug added that it's human nature to embellish stories as we tell them. It's how we connect with one another. "So we make our stories—even the ones about mundane events—entertaining. We ratchet up the suspense. We fill in missing details. We sex it up a little. There's nothing wrong with that," he said.

"That said, I think one giveaway of a story that has been either made up or heavily embellished is that it all makes sense. Real life is chaotic and doesn't often give us a satisfying payoff at the end of a story. I tend to gravitate toward stories that have elements that are simply never explained. They ring more true to life."

During an earlier interview, editor and writer Doug, the founder of Bad Hand Books, shared his opinion with Bored Panda about why we’re fascinated by scary stories.

"I suspect that most of us—regardless of our spiritual beliefs—have a longing for something beyond this life. Human beings seem to be pre-programmed with this urge," he told us.

"So much of horror and speculative fiction grapples with death and what happens after we die that I can't help but believe much of our interest in such stories is an expression of a longing for experiences and existences beyond our perceptions," the horror expert shared with Bored Panda.

"Great horror stories thread a precarious needle: They maintain a sense of the truly inexplicable while creating a world and a narrative that provides enough answers to ground the story,” he said what separates a great story from the rest.

“Over-explanation kills most horror, which is why the shark is scariest when you only see the fin; the alien is most terrifying when it's lurking in the shadows; the killer is most monstrous when he's masked," he added.

According to the expert, we should value stories for the entertainment they provide us, whether they’re true or not. In other words, a good story is still good, even if it’s made up. And we need to learn to enjoy it.

"My professional expertise is limited to fiction, but I'll say this: I've seen enough real magic and wonder in the world to make me think twice about whether the supernatural is real—and I think that's a healthy thing. It's perhaps less important to believe any given tale than it is to remain open to experiences while leaving room in your head and in your heart for belief."