#1
To gain some insight on imaginary friends and how common it is for children to have them, we reached out to child therapist Katie Lear, LCMHC, RPT, RDT. Katie told Bored Panda that it is actually more common for kids to have imaginary friends than to not have them. "Research suggests that 65% of children will have an invisible playmate at some point during their childhood. It's totally normal."
"In fact, parents can rest easy knowing that having an imaginary friend is correlated with high social intelligence and creativity later in life," Katie noted. "It's a form of play, and in nearly every case a sign of healthy development. It seems that children who spend more time playing alone may rely more on their inner life for entertainment. We see only children and firstborns creating invisible friends more often than other kids, which seems to support this theory."
#2
#3
For the backstory, one of my uncles (lets call him Steve) lost a childhood friend when he was ~7.
Steve and his friend (let’s call him Jack) were having a play-date one after noon and got a bit dirty in some mud. So Steve’s mother gave Jack a pair of Steve’s shoes to borrow. When Jack’s father came to pick him up after the play date they forgot to put back on Jack’s shoes and Jack accidentally got into the car with the borrowed shoes still on. Tragically the father and Jack got into a terrible car crash on the way home which killed 7-year old Jack. The family had him buried in the shoes he had borrowed from Steve. (i’m not sure why)
My 6 year old cousin Sara is playing alone with toys in a quieter room of the house. My Uncle Steve comes up to her and asks her what she is playing. Sara responds saying that she is playing with a friend. Holding back a smile, Steve asks who her imaginary friend is. Sara continues to play while saying that she is playing with his friend Jack, and that “he is sorry he forgot to give your shoes back”.
My Uncle’s jaw nearly dropped. He had not talked about Jack in years, let alone tell that story to a 6 year old.
When it comes to what these imaginary friends are usually like, Katie says they can be pretty much anything. "Child or adult, human or animal... There's a ton of variety," she says. "In general, imaginary friends seem to range from friendly to mildly mischievous. I think it's much less common for children to create scary or violent imaginary friends like we're hearing about in this Reddit thread."
"It might sound alarming, but I don't think having a creepy imaginary buddy is immediately cause for concern," Katie says. "If this were my child or a child on my caseload, I'd be curious about whether having a 'naughty' imaginary friend was giving the child an opportunity to explore feelings and behaviors that aren't socially acceptable. For example, it's not okay for me to hit people, but maybe I can let that impulse out if my imaginary friend does it."
#4
#5
“go see nana? Go see papa?”
“Hello Aunnie. Hello Tim” (her aunt and uncle)
My wife and I loved to listen in on the baby monitor and talk about how cute she was. Then one night she said:
“Satan!”
In that tone that only little girls have that is so sweet it chills the blood when they say something like this.
It evolved over a week into like “it’s satan!”
Or “satan and the son!”
OR my personal favorite: “good night everyone. Ah satan!”
We also asked Katie if children usually understand that their imaginary friends are make believe. "Young children are still learning to differentiate reality and fantasy. The blurred lines between 'real' and 'pretend' are part of the magic of early childhood," Katie explained. "By the time they start Kindergarten, most kids should be able to tell what's real and what isn't. They may have an emotional investment in their imaginary friend, but they know their friend is make believe."
Katie also added that the way we respond to our children can affect their behavior. "I'd be really curious about the response the child is getting to these creepy stories," she said. "Are they getting a big reaction from you? Any behavior that gets a lot of attention from parents is likely to be repeated, so parents may unintentionally encourage more of this creepy behavior if the stories freak them out."
#6
#7
That’s when he told us that “Johnny was a soldier who died in a place called Nam. “
And although imaginary friends are usually nothing to worry about, Katie said there are rare times where parents should step in. "Sometimes kids attempt to blame their own naughty behavior on an imaginary friend, which isn't something parents need to go along with," she noted. "While imaginary friends are usually helpful for developing social skills, a child who is deeply invested in their friend to the detriment of their real-life friendships may need help connecting with peers. Rarely, an imaginary friend might be a child's attempt to cope with trauma or stress. If your child's imaginary friend encourages them to behave badly in real life or says upsetting things to them, you need to intervene. It never hurts to run these concerns by a children's therapist or pediatrician, especially if you're noticing other symptoms like anxiety, behavior problems, or difficulties sleeping or eating."
If you'd like to gain more wisdom from Katie, you can find her website right here. She also shared with Bored Panda that she's working on a new venture as well called Young Dragonslayers, an online company that helps kids practice social-emotional skills through online gaming, that can be found right here.
#8
Here's a few of the purple mommy details . Purple mommy is all purple with long hair and bright all white eyes(at the time he mixed up purple with black, so he could have meant she was all black) . Purple mommy picks him up at night, and turns off the lights. We would often find my son out of his crib in the morning, which would mean him crawling over the railing and to the ground, at a time when he was barely walking. Definitely found the lights in his room off a few times too, even though hes terrified if the dark. . Purple mommy needs a bandage because she has blood everywhere.
#9
We hope these stories aren't scaring you out of having children of your own some day, if you planned on becoming a parent. Keep upvoting the responses that would freak you out if your own kids said them, and feel free to share any creepy imaginary friend stories you've heard children tell in the comments. Kids are incredible and so smart, but sometimes, as many horror movies have taught us, they can be a bit frightening... Enjoy the rest of this spooky list, and then if you're looking to read even more frightening things children have shared, we recommend checking out this Bored Panda article next!
#10
#11
#12
#13
She didn’t respond so I looked in the rear view mirror. I couldn’t see very much because it was dark. What I could see was my niece’s face. She looked angry and I was about to reassure her that I was kidding but I realized she wasn’t looking at me. She was looking at something near my ear, towards the back of my head.
Then she says, “I said NO, Jacob. Be nice. NO. She didn’t mean it.”
#14
#15
#16
#17
#18
#19
#20
