Most of us have fears, whether it’s spiders, heights, or even grass (if you just said “what?”, search hastenburaphobia on your browser) that tend to send shivers down our spine. But some situations can arguably be even more frightening than the common phobias we have.
Members of the ‘Ask Reddit’ community recently discussed such situations, after the user ‘Sanguine230’ started a thread about it. The netizen wanted to hear what was the scariest thing redditors have ever witnessed, and they had plenty of stories to share, ranging from fear-inducing to hair-raisingly terrifying. Scroll down to find them on the list below—where you will also find Bored Panda’s interview with the OP themselves—but do it at your own risk as some of the redditors’ accounts are pretty upsetting.
#1
When I was just a kid, we witnessed a very bad motorcycle accident. The poor guy ran into the side of a car. He went flying over the top of the car. Before the guy hit the road, my father (who was a nurse) was out of the car. When the guy came down we saw a huge gash in his thigh and my Dad quickly took off his tie and used it as a tourniquet on the guy's upper thigh. Someone by then had thought quickly and called an ambulance. No cell phones back then so it took a while. Then the motorcycle rider went into cardiac arrest.My Dad didn't waste any time and gave him CPR until the paramedics arrived and took over. Thanks to my Dad, the guy survived and made a full recovery. Dad was being very modest about the whole thing and didn't want any fuss because it was his job. He is no longer with us, but I will always remember that event. He was a real life HERO.
375points
#2
I used to work on offshore oil rigs. The generators that power them are the size of a small house. One day a technician forgot to lock out;tag out while he was checking why we were having voltage drops on the pump floor. A supervisor came by and saw the third generator was off and decided to fire it up. I was in the room trying to find a replacement pump sensor when it clicked. Boom pop zap. I saw a human explode, turn to plasma, then carbonize. The sound and and smell never leave.
172points
#3
My stepdad ripping a doorknob out of a door and throwing it at my moms face while she was on the ground.
she was crying and screaming and asked me to call for help.
my stepdad said if I called anyone, then I would be next.
I hid under my bed and called my grandparents.
I was 8.
159points
In an interview with Bored Panda, the OP shared that they’re a big fan of horror movies; however, according to them, real life can be scarier than a movie sometimes. “I wanted to hear some real-life horror stories and the community did not disappoint,” they said, revealing the reason behind the question posed to fellow redditors.
#4
1 second after my first child was born by C-section one of the doctors dropped her straight on the floor. I have encountered some other bad things but never anything that hit like that.
She ended up totally fine (though kept in nicu for a week as a precaution).
140points
#5
Buried alive after an avalanche in CO We made an early morning ascent of Berthoud Pass; the snowpack looked good, and we had lots of fresh powder. I was first down into what looked like a perfect virgin powder bowl and right as I pitched in I felt the snowpack come with me. Weirdly enough, the avalanche itself wasn't that scary (I think that my body dumping every ounce of adrenaline it had ever stored took care of that) I remember thinking, "Well, I guess this is how I'm going to die" I swam as best as I could but it was a mess. I ended up buried about 8 feet down. I've never been particularly claustrophobic but I nearly lost my mind. Do you want to talk about fear? I was literally buried alive, with no knowledge of how deep I was, or if my friends (and way out) had been pulled in too, I had checked my beacon earlier but who even knew if it still worked after the beating I took. Fun fact about snow, after settling, it basically turns into concrete. You can't move. I didn't even have an air pocket, the only reason I could still breathe was that I was rocking my avalung (you rock black diamond!). I went through some pretty serious soul-searching in the 12 minutes (with literally no concept of time, it felt like 12 hours) before I felt a probing jab into my leg. I attribute my survival to three things. 1: my friends who are skilled backcountry skiers and know how to use their probes/beacons. 2: my avalung, I will never ski backcountry without one again 3: sheer effing luck that I wasn't snapped in half or pitched into a gully 20 feet; under. I still ski to this day, but I am much more careful in the backcountry. Shits are real out there and if you're not careful, the mountains will chew you up and spit you out with the spring thaw.
134points
The OP admitted being taken aback by the sheer number of replies from the online community. “I was very surprised by the amount of responses, I definitely didn’t anticipate the post would blow up like it did. I’ve had so many I’m actually still working my way through all the answers, barely halfway through yet.
“Some of the stories are very harrowing, but it is a fascinating read,” they added. “I’d say the survival stories shocked me most. Some users really have been through hell and back, and their resilience is incredible.”
The redditor was appreciative of people's sincere—and often heartbreaking—answers. “I’d like to add a massive thank you to everyone who contributed to the thread. It’s a very interesting read and I really appreciated people’s openness and honesty.”
#6
I worked in an ER. Let's just say:
1. Wear a helmet any time you ride a bike, skateboard, scooter, motorcycle, moped, e-bike etc. WEAR THE HELMET.
2. Never leave a child/baby unattended in the tub/shower/sink for a bath. No, not even for 'five seconds'
3. Do not let your kids wear flammable pajamas. EVER. The burns are awful. Also- smoke detectors matter, and you have NO idea when you're going to need it in working order. yes, go check on yours now. Right now.
131points
#7
Scuba diving a few kilometres off the coast with a friend of mine, he had a small tinny boat and the water was around 20-25m deep. Around 7am toward the end of our dive we came within metres of a Great White. My friend saw it first, as I was checking out some cool coral and the fish then I just see out the corner of my eye him waving at me and signalling like “stay calm”, then I look to my left and just this absolute beast of a creature was casually swimming by us. We both just stopped and stared. It cruised by for about 30 seconds and then turned away and swam off into the distance till it just vanished. Scariest s**t I’ve ever experienced, but also felt like an honour to see something like that in the raw wild.
115points
#8
Watched a group of people cliff jumping nearby where my family members and i were having a beach day, one of the guys landed wrong and didnt come back up. hearing/watching his friends or family looking for him was awful.
112points
As for their own experiences, the OP shared that there were two times they were scared to death that stuck with them the most, even if they, in their own words, “feel tame in comparison to some of the answers.”
“I was chased by a very angry stray dog,” they said, discussing the first one. “I was genuinely prepared to try and fight it or be mauled to death.”
“The second one was when I was in central London when all of a sudden there was a huge bang. Sparks flew and ash started raining down. I took shelter under a cafe table and everyone in the vicinity was screaming. Turns out some kids thought it’d be a good idea to set off some fireworks. Thankfully no one was hurt, but it was terrifying.”
#9
Was moving to another state. Driving cross country. I was in the car with my mom. My older sister and her friend were in the car behind us. I woke up to my mom gasping. I wasn’t sure what I expected but I turned around in my seat and saw my sisters car flipping through the air. It was like slow motion. When the vehicle came to a stop my mom ran over to my sisters friend, who was ejected from the vehicle, and took care of her. I walked around looking for my cats that were in the car. I was only 9 so my mom screamed at me not to go to the car my sister was in and not to go by where her friend was laying. As I was looking for my cats and processing, I saw my sister limping over, her left foot was covered in blood and glass and her just crying and asking where her friend was. Her car rolled 7.5 times. It was unrecognizable as a vehicle. Somehow both my sister and her friend made it out alive. But I’ll never forget seeing my sister limping through the carnage like the survivor of an ancient battle, or witnessing her car flipping through the air as chunks of debris flew off.
As for my cats I only found one. The one we found was named “China”. The other one that we never found was named “Baby”
As for my cats I only found one. The one we found was named “China”. The other one that we never found was named “Baby”
109points
#10
When I was really young living in North Carolina, my neighbourhood got hit by a tornado. My mom rushed my brother and I into a basement closet to keep us sheltered from broken glass and debris. However, the basement was flooding, and so water was halfway up our shins. My father was on his way home from work so my mother was running around trying to secure the house. As far as I remember, it ended up just being me and my bro in there until the tornado passed
Imagine standing inside of a small basement closet, water rising up your legs, your parents somewhere else and the sounds of a tornado ripping your house apart
To this day I still can't handle windstorms or even high winds. Traumatized me for life.
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106points
#11
I'll tell you the scariest moment I've ever had. I was a young guy who hadn't yet learned how important it is to drive defensively, and I was hurtling down a road on my motorcycle. Well "hurtling" may be overstating it, I was only going about 50 mph but I hadn't yet learned that some people just have a blind spot when it comes to motorcycles. They can look straight at you and not see you.
This is what the elderly driver departing a strip mall did as he tried to cross my lane, turning left to go the opposite direction as mine. He had looked directly at me and not seen anything. I probably owe my life to his wife seated next to him, who *did* see me and yelled at him to stop. He did, but was now completely blocking the road in front of me.
I had basically no time to think but remember briefly thinking I had to put the bike down. But with the reflexes of a young guy I swerved my bike hard left to try and cross the car's front bumper. I instinctively looked down at my right foot pedal to see it clear that bumper by less than the width of my foot. At 50mph or so.
Now I was in wrong-way traffic so at the next median I went back on the right side. About a mile or so later I had to stop at another strip mall, laid down on the pavement and start shaking uncontrollably for a pretty good while. After I recovered I drove back to my place, thought for a day or two about it, and put that bike up for sale.
105points
#12
Had a gun held to my head “as a joke” once. Same guy ended up in prison for life after attempting to rob a home a few months later and exchanged gunshots with the owner.
100points
#13
When I was a kid there was a firestorm (very strong winds and forest fire on tinder dry west coast forest).
My mom was trying to drive away from it and it was so much faster than the car. It started far enough behind us that all I could see was smoke, then I could see fire moving fast, suddenly it was all around us. Everyone was breathing through wet towels but could hardly get oxygen. I passed out. Apparently we crossed the big river and it slowed for a bit giving us a chance to speed into town where the massive parking lots saved us.
I breathed so much smoke I had to be admitted to the hospital and my lungs are still a little weak.
96points
#14
I once found myself crossing a very isolated walkway in my town at 1am, no cars or any people in sight.
While completely isolated i met a group of 10 to 15 stray dogs from varying sizes coming from the oposite direction. I couldnt change my path or do anything about it, i needed to cross them.
Some of them were quite big but they were all kinda skinny, probably hungry and one of the small a*****e ones started barking and threatening me... That encouraged all of them to start barking and doing the same.
I knew if one of them attacked me, if i ran or tried to fight back it was game over. They were going to swarm and obliterate me. DEATH by being evicerated by a dozen dogs... The thought alone made me s**t myself completely.
I ate the fear and just ignored them, they ended up not attacking, but that was a traumatic experience just cause of the implication of what could possibily happen
not fun.
95points
#15
Came to a stop light on my bicycle at Cervantes and Fillmore in San Francisco at 5:03 PM on October 17, 1989.
Why do I know the time and place so accurately?
At that moment, the Loma Prieta earthquake struck, the so called world series quake. I was standing where the landfill met bedrock. It was like walking on a waterbed as the liquefied earth slammed against the rock. I jumped off my bike and carried it to the sidewalk. I turned to see the building across me collapse. The smell of gas waved over me.
Scariest thing I've witnessed, and experienced.
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94points
#16
When I was 13, my dad popping out like 30 sleeping pills in front of me and swallowing all of them in an attempt to kill himself. My mom refusing to call an ambulance and I had to do it. The fire department arriving and keeping my dad awake as he swayed around and fell over and vomited in the yard.
Then they took him to the hospital and my drunk mom decided we should all get in the car and follow him and then we crashed the car and almost died.
I almost lost my whole family in one night!! Honesly haven't thought about that night since I was a teenager still.
93points
#17
I was sitting at a red light when I saw a head on collision between two other cars. One of the drivers went head first through the windshield and landed with her head partially ripped off.
Wear your seatbelts, kids.
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89points
#18
I was driving through a rural area when my daughter says, "Mom, I think she needs help..." I pulled over and turned around, and there was a maybe 12-year old girl covered in blood on the side of the road. I don't know how I didn't see her, but another girl around the same age came out of the woods and said their car had flipped. I called 911 and went into the woods, and there's a car upside-down in this 50-foot ravine. It was too steep to get down, but I could hear a woman screaming over and over again, "my baby, my baby."
The girls said their mom and sister were still in the car, and rescuers arrived unbelievably fast. We gave the girl spare towels to stay warm, and then just got out of the way. I read in the paper that the 9-year old sister had died. Now I always scan those woods when I drive by.
89points
#19
As a kid seeying my 5 year old friend going through leukemia - did not make it.
As a kid nature protects you of sorrow but it wasn't nice. Later in life you realize what you saw and also understand quickly that people do not understand what it is until you see it yourself.
Later in life seeing health issues somehow you are better prepared.
88points
#20
About 16 years ago, I was washing dishes and the kitchen window was facing the front yard. Suddenly I see a whole f*****g SWAT team coming towards my yard. I was in disbelief when suddenly they knock on my door, upon opening it, one of them says to me “ma’am there’s a murder suspect in your backyard, we need to come in”. I immediately led them towards the backyard. After that, it was all a blur. They were in the backyard for what seemed a couple of minutes, then rushed back out.
Turns out, some dude had killed someone around the corner from my house. He fled, was hiding in my neighbors backyard for hours, until he was noticed and police called, dude then jumps the fence onto my backyard and was hiding there for god knows how long, and when he realized swat was close, he jumped to the back neighbors yard, from there he fled outside and was ultimately gunned down in the middle of the street. Certainly don’t miss living in that area.
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84points