Every good story starts with an “it’s true what they say.”
Every good story can be even better when it is a long-considered local rumor that everyone wrote off as being just that—a rumor and nothing more—but many, many, years later it turns out that it was actually true. With mixed results.
Folks on Reddit are sharing stories of local rumors that may or may not have sent chills down their spines, but ones that definitely maybe sent some chills after finding out that the rumor was definitely a thing.
#1
Grew up in a rural area of the southwest in the 80’s. There was an older woman with a thick European accent, she lived alone in a small house and was always nice to us kids. She was the only person who gave out full size candy bars during Halloween (that was a big deal back in the 80’s). But she also drank…heavily, like crashed her car a few times around town but not at fast speed (an old huge Ford LTD and not at fast speeds), and the sheriff’s always just took her home.
Rumors spread amongst us kids that it was strange the way our parents/ adults acted around her. One day in the small local store I was standing in line with my dad and she was standing behind us, I was about 8, I looked back and said to my Dad “that’s the lady that gives out full size Hersey candy bars on Halloween!” She smiled, my father turned and thanked her and looked at her arm, he looked spooked, then he quickly offered her to go ahead of us in line thanking her again. Side note my family’s Catholic.
When we got in the car I asked him about the woman, he then explained “those numbers tattooed on her arm,” he paused “what have you learned about WWII?” He then tried the entire ride home and later at home to explain the horrors of the holocaust to a 8 year old kid. It made sense why all the adults always treated her with a different type of respect. Even the Sheriffs, I always thought it was cool. Later I remembered people would volunteer to help her with her yard work, drop off groceries, get her packages, etc. me and my friend would mow her yard for free.
418points
#2
US Midwest. Rumor has it that way up the old road out of town, somewhere in the woods, was a satanic cult that held seances and other mystical rituals by firelight. Scared the w*****s out of us kids, and our parents wouldn't let us ride our bikes anywhere on that road. Decades later I was working on a commissioned history project for the town and talked to the old man who owned the oldest homestead in the county--way back in the woods along that road. While photographing the creek that ran through the stone foundation basement of the home, which the settlers used for water generations ago, I noted the burned out tea candles everywhere. Guy lit up and said yeah, back in his younger days he and his wife used to host elaborate costume parties at the property, often by candlelight for the fun of it. He'd heard the rumors of the satanic cult and thought it was hilarious, so he and his friends ran with it and held parties in monks robes and had bonfires and lived it up. He still laughs about it, and now, so can I!
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303points
#3
Rumour about a local businessman who tried to end it all and was rescued. Some weeks later he ran into a burning building and rescued two young children, sustaining severe burns in the process.
A few months ago I saw him in the pub on the green, all of the skin in his face and hands had melted and he had skin grafted everywhere.
Happiest man in the pub. What a hero.
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278points
A netizen who identifies as the only carpenter recently asked AskReddit about local rumors that Redditors have heard as kids, but it turned out to be real.
The post garnered nearly 13,000 upvotes with another (also nearly) 5,000 comments in engagement.
#4
I have two. Both about elderly men.
First, there was an elderly man that could be seen walking all over town. Long gray beard. Usually seen in tattered clothes. "Walking Man" or the "Silver Bullet" were nicknames for him. The rumor was he was actually really wealthy but lots of people just assumed he was homeless because he was always walking, carrying groceries or whatever. Well, about a year before he passed, it came out that he was actually one of the wealthiest residents in our town when he donated millions to local youth programs and schools. Turns out, he just liked walking a lot and placed no value on material things like clothes and cars.
Second, there was an elderly man who was actually homeless . The rumor was that he drank himself crazy some years back and just never got help. He was in and out of jail a bunch but always seem to be given some slack by law enforcement. This truth is tragic. He did drink himself crazy out of necessity. He was a paramedic. One night he responded to a wreck that turned out to be his wife and daughter had been hit by a distracted driver speeding on a narrow road. Neither survived. Understandably, he was never ok after that. He would sometimes check the pizza shop I used to manage for spare slices. Broke my heart that all I could do was offer him some free pizza. Hope you can rest in peace now, Red.
237points
#5
I grew up where there were some signs of Native Americans. I started believing that this one particularly beautiful spot had to be sacred, and probably was a burial ground. I’d convince my friends to hold hands in a circle and try to commune with the dead. After I got a bit older I was super embarrassed that I’d ever done such things.
A few years later a Native American came but and told us how sacred the land was that we owned, and asked permission to hold peyote rituals with his tribe and others on our land. To this day they still come out and set up a teepee and drum all night, absolutely flying on hallucinogenics.
Turns out I was right
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215points
#6
Okay so this wasn't one that I heard as a kid but there was rumor around the college my wife works at that the chemistry professor was actually the father of the literature professor's baby.
A couple of the students asked her about it and she admitted that yes, the father was the chemistry professor.
A couple of the students asked her about it and she admitted that yes, the father was the chemistry professor.
The students were scandalized. Until she explained to them that said chemistry professor was her husband and this would be their second kid. Apparently, it never occurred to the kids at this small Midwestern college that couples didn't always share a last name.
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206points
The amount of storytelling in this thread could be enough to write several mystery books with all of its talks of cults in the woods, football fields built on cemeteries, heroic business people with a dark past, being struck by lightning, dating teachers, you name it, it’s probably here.
#7
kid in my third grade class was ALWAYS late to school. i’m talking he once showed up to school 5 minutes before classes were released to go home. the rumor among parents & teachers was that his mom was an alcoholic & the dad lived a couple towns over so he often had to wait for his dad to take him or take care of his mom until she was well enough to drive (this was a private school with no bus). she died of liver failure a few months ago according to facebook. makes it so much more f****d up that everyone knew, including the teacher, and didn’t have any sympathy for him. i distinctly remember the teacher telling him on multiple occasions that it was “his responsibility to show up on time.” he was 8, was he supposed to drive himself??? makes me so sad & i hope he’s doing okay now.
163points
#8
This is a little more lighthearted. But when I was in elementary school. Probably like 3rd grade? All the kids in my class would joke about how our primary teacher and our Spanish teacher “liked” each other. We were all little kids, so of course it was just dumb little kids joking about around.
That is, until a few years later when I was in middle school and I found out my old teacher and Spanish teacher recently got married.
151points
#9
There was a teacher at my school that kids would claim was insanely rich. Like he lived in a giant mansion near the oceanfront and he only taught because he just genuinely loves being a teacher. He was pretty private so he would always say you shouldn't ask people about their finances when kids would just ask him. So senior year he has the seniors over for a year-end awards ceremony and superlatives type dinner deal
Yup, super rich and lived in a huge mansion by the ocean. Said he inherited all his money from his parents and I think he said a sibling or two got written out of the will for being s****y so he didn't have to share it. Became a teacher out of college, then when his parents died and he inherited everything he just kept teaching because he liked it.
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146points
Because chaos is a natural part of life, it’s only appropriate to learn something out of the ordinary about rumors, and that is how to start one.
First up is crafting a compelling rumor. Figure out what you want to achieve with this rumor. Classics include humiliating someone to deflate their ego or exact karma for being a jerk, but it can be more elaborate, like breaking up a couple.
#10
The local homeless guy who was always friendly and happy was actually a super successful lawyer. The truth was that he *was* a successful lawyer but one day cracked under the pressure, sold all his things and just started living the vagabond life. He said he was happier looking for where his next meal was coming from than money ever made him. I think it was the first seed planted in my brain of "don't k**l yourself for a company". I don't remember his name, but I hope he's still happy.
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137points
#11
When I was a little kid like 7 and roaming around the neighborhood with my gang of little rascals (this was in the 50’s when kids could safely play outside all day with their pals without parental worry) there was a rumor that in the house two doors over from mine that the parents had locked their mentally handicapped kid in the attic and that he was one of my gang friend’s older brothers. We played with him, but he always denied that he had any siblings. We were never allowed to enter his house which was strange because we were always stopping at our other pals homes during our days roaming to drink water or use the bathroom. About 2 years later the boy and his family moved away never to be seen again, but when they moved it was discovered that, yes, an older brother did exist and that he was kept locked away in the attic. It was a very creepy discovery! Mental health awareness and acceptance was in the dark ages in the 1950’s.
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121points
#12
This older kid had this lightning streak scar all over one side of his neck and down his body. The rumor was he was throwing stuff at the power lines behind our neighborhood.
Turns out he was. He was throwing copper wire at it, and it arced. He's lucky to be alive.
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119points
It helps to also identify some emotional triggers that you can use to your advantage. You know, stir some panic and anxiety in the individual. Or individuals.
So, focus on a topic that would be relatable and would hit close to home. Topics like money help a lot, like winning the lottery, and it helps to include details that would please a crowd, like maybe choosing a controversial decision.
#13
When I was a child *shakes cane* we had the legend of The Baroness. Supposedly, she lived in a haunted house and drove around a pink hearse! When I was old enough to drive and explore on my own, I finally saw her! In her pink hearse! She also did live in a house that would have coded as spooky or haunted to a small child. It was just an old house with neat architecture.
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108points
#14
The community I grew up in had an abandoned hospital in it. The place was spooky as hell. The story was that the hospital had a maternity ward where they would steal babies from Indigenous women and then make the mothers disappear. They also said they would experiment on people and perform surgeries with no anesthetic.
Turned out it was true!
They say that place is crawling with ghosts and you could see the ghosts of the women walking around the hallways looking for their babies. I can not confirm that one. I always stayed away from that place it was too creepy.
They ended up trying to redevelop the building into condos and holy s**t you could not pay me enough to ever live in there.
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108points
#15
Always heard rumours that this kid who I rode bmx with, his dad was a high ranking member of the Hells. One day we’re over there, years later, chatting s**t around the fire in his backyard and about 70 patched members arrived at the house for a meeting. They bought us a s**tload of beer and told us to find a park to drink it in for a few hours while they had their meeting.
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106points
Needless to say, the rumors have to be simple and believable, so making all the details overly complicated and the multitude to which the rumor extends beyond the immediate reality is not a good idea. Keep it grounded.
Once all that is sorted out, start spreading. And it’s not just talking about—it’s convincing others to spread it too. Hire all the bigmouths to do the job.
#16
There was a rumor at my high school that that the building down the way was a cult. It wasn’t unheard of to dare people to go over there and then you’d end up being followed or sometimes invited to dinner.
Turns out, it was the HQ of the cult the Duggars were in, IBLP. I was watching that documentary and my mind was blown, because all the high school rumors had been true!!
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105points
#17
The park we used to play football at used to be a cemetery, they exhumed all the coffins and moved them years before I was born. We’d freak each other out especially at night saying there were still bodies buried there. One day we were playing and they were doing some grounds keeping work and they found a coffin, the state came out and found 30 more. We were actually playing on top of hallowed ground.
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98points
#18
In middle school there was an urban legend one of the teachers was in playboy. She was very attractive and every 12 yr old hetero boys fantasy.
One day a friend down the street found a huge stash of his dad’s old playboys from the 60 and 70s. He started going through them all until he hit one issue from the 70s. It was a compilation piece on college women. To his surprise, and the rest of us when he confirmed with our little group, it was our teacher. No one believed it but it was her name, college and face.
The good thing was we agreed to never show, nor tell, anyone else in our class. Though it was very tempting to tell her a*****e son who was in our grade that we knew the truth.
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92points
Social media and the internet in general might prove to be very helpful with the level of anonymity that it provides. Fake accounts will be your best friend, both as a means of spreading and as a means of leaving deliberate evidence around. You know, breadcrumbs that make the whole thing sound legit. But don’t go overboard as it should also keep your tracks hidden.
#19
We had a rumor about there being a white horse in the woods behind the movie theater in our town. There were a couple homeless people living there though, so no one went and checked it out. Well, before seeing a movie one day, me and a couple of friends decided to make the trek. We stumbled passed the makeshift camp, and found a small path that led to a fence. We stood there for a couple seconds, and then, seemingly out of nowhere, a majestic white steed came trotting towards us. We snapped a quick pic on an early 2000's cell phone of our friend and the horse, and got the hell outta there. The pic looked absolutely fake, and no one believes us about it to this day.
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86points
#20
When I was in jr high in the early 2000s there was a rumour about one of my female classmates and the male gym teacher. Of course we all thought it was a rumour but a few years later it came out that he was sleeping with multiple students. Watching everyone’s face as they realized the rumours we heard were true was pretty wild. That girl also ended up just disappearing after it all came out, probably dropped out or moved schools, I feel bad for her, she was a victim but no one talked about her like she was.
83points