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“The Whole Store Went Quiet”: 35 Public Horror Stories That Are Worse Than Any Horror Movie
It sounds cliché, but we really don't know what the future holds for us. And I'm not talking about 20 years down the line, either. Sometimes, we might head out to get some butter and run into a situation on our way to the store that changes our entire perspective on the world around us.
So no wonder that when a recent Reddit post asked people to share the most disturbing things they've seen in public, hundreds offered their stories. From strange characters to freak accidents, they also show that the spaces we're used to aren't always as safe and predictable as we'd like.
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#1
A couple slapping the legs of their sunburnt toddler in the queue for the shuttle at Disneyworld because she was crying about her sunburn. That was 11 years ago and my son still talks about how horrified he was.
angelmomoffour62 16 hours ago
Poor toddler her legs already hurt from the sunburn then they did that to her. They should of put something on her so she didn't get sunburned. Shame on them.
RELATED:
#2
A parent get so mad at their child's small mistake she punched him in the face. The police were called.
#3
Someone, or most of them anyway being ejected from their car during an accident. Wear your seat belt people.
Glen Ellyn 13 hours ago
Have you ever watched any YouTube videos of police chases? I have and I'm blown away by the number of fleeing drivers who do not wear their seatbelts. They're thrown from the vehicle and a lot of them don't make it following a survivable crash.
#4
A parent screaming at their kid in public so harshly that the whole store went quiet. The kid looked more embarrassed than scared, which somehow made it worse.
#5
I suppose the sight of the kids drinking from the Bellagio pool while a drunk was relieving himself in it on the far side was disturbing.
#6
Watched my best friend d*e on a sidewalk while I was walking to go grab a pizza to bring up to his place, to thank him for letting me crash there while I was sick and my AC was broken. The odds of me being the one to find him were pretty crazy. Went from having a really nice day to, "Ok they've been trying CPR for 5 minutes, I think he's d**d."
The part that really sucked is the cop who showed up kept pestering me about what d***s he took. He didn't do d***s. The cop didn't believe me. He also made me contact his family. At the hospital later, that same cop gave the news that he was d**d and quietly said, "There were no d***s in his system.".
#7
I once lived on the same block as a popular bar. I got used to drunk people making noise when they left at 2 in the morning. But one morning, it was icy out and two drunk guys had been arguing in the bar. They proceeded to try to slug it out in front of my house, but they kept slipping on the ice and falling and yelling. I opened the window and shouted at them to knock it off. They then turned on me and started banging on the door and dared me to come out and fight them. I just called the police and they were arrested for public nuisance.
Rick Murray 15 hours ago
Yeah, you uh, you can't argue with drunk people. Their logic doesn't add up.
#8
A boy about 11 or 12 years old, begging his mom to take them home. She was playing at a video lottery machine and ignoring him.
Glen Ellyn 13 hours ago
Too many parents these days are totally checked out when it comes to their children. Very sad. I feel sorry for any child that is treated this way. Grrr.
#9
When I was ten I was at a day camp at the public beach in my hometown. My counselor’s boyfriend went for a swim and disappeared. My counselor became very worried and called the police. After about fifteen minutes, they found his body on the bottom of the lake and dragged it out on to the beach in front of all of us. My counselor became hysterical and had a mental breakdown right there.
Glen Ellyn 13 hours ago
Police should have been more considerate and cleared the area once they knew it was a body, as in, expired.
#10
We were going to visit my aunt and uncle, and my dad parked the car on the street. As we walked up the sidewalk, we passed a man sitting in his parked car. This guy was *screaming* into his cell phone, just *roaring* at the person on the other end. There was a look of absolute rage on his face, and he was slamming his fist against the wheel. We all murmured about how creepy it was and rushed inside.
A couple of hours later, we left the house…and found the street closed off, swarming with cop cars. There was no way for us to leave. There was crime scene tape surrounding the townhouse next door.
The guy we had seen in the parked car had hung up his phone, gone into his house, and sh*t his wife in front of their kids.
#11
I saw a guy, about 6'4" or so, skinny as hell, no shirt, living outside here in a major US city. He was standing amidst all his stuff, and there was a pile of what I can only assume were h****n needles scattered around him. He only had one arm, and I would hazard a guess that he lost that arm because he was sh**ting up and it got infected. I remember a stat my friend told me once, that once that needle goes into your arm, your life expectancy drops to 3 years from that moment.
I saw that guy a few months ago.
The Starsong Princess 7 hours ago
I saw a girl passed out at Union Station in Toronto. I think she was on m**h. Later I saw a cop with her. I was impressed with how he was talking to her “Are you ok? Can we call someone? Do you need to go to the hospital?” Really kind but firm.
#12
A few years ago went to Hawaii, we were waiting to go parasailing. Suddenly this little motorboat zooms up to the beach with a lifeless body they'd found in the ocean. They're doing CPR and finding a defibrillator from a local hotel. Took a while but paramedics come. They are working on him the whole time. But then the guy's family shows up. Wife and two teens. Also, it's Thanksgiving. Everyone is so silent then it occurs to the wife he isn't going to make it. She makes that noise, that gutteral grief noise. I took my friend and said let's get out of here, this is about to turn hysterical and we don't want to see any more of this emotional pain. It was so tragic.
It didn't even make the news, btw. There are so many accidents and drownings. Be careful in the ocean, friends.
Glen Ellyn 13 hours ago
Pay attention to any advice or warnings from lifeguards, and for Pete's sake, learn to swim!!
#13
2 homeless people doing it in a skip, from my living room window, in Scotland, in the rain.
Glen Ellyn 13 hours ago
Ick, but I suppose you gotta do what you gotta do. Or something like that.
#14
I was a valet driver at an upscale hotel in the city. We had a shortcut alley we cut through we deemed "S**t Alley" because it was where all the homeless people took s***s. One day, I was running up the s**t alley when I seen a group of homeless people in a pile. When I ran up, they noticed me and I seen them quickly put their pants back on and try and leave as quickly as they could. I noticed an intoxicated female on the ground who didn't know where she was. I called the cops and stayed with her until they got there. I never saw her again but I think about her all the time.
Another time, same alley, I saw two men in a cubby and when I got closer, I seen that it was one homeless dude sh**ting up another homeless dude full of h****n in his a*s.
I hated that job.
#15
I once saw a d**d rat on a sidewalk that had been staged in a little tableau with an empty bottle of vodka and a cigarette.
Cat Palmer 9 hours ago
We get rats in our garden, but they're country rats who have given up d***s and alcohol and now only consume organic, free-range fruit and veg. They eat more of what I grow than I do. 🙄
#16
A car hit a bicyclist. And drove away!
Upstaged75 17 hours ago (edited)
I unfortunately once saw a person backing their car out of a driveway hit a kid (with no helmet) on a bike who rode right behind the car without looking. The kid immediately started to have a seizure after he hit the ground. I didn't stick around after I made sure 911 had been called - there was a crowd of people who rendered aid so I was just in the way. I very much hope that he was OK!
#17
Waiting in the ER I watched the staff discharge a man who was clearly unwell. He looked homeless and was standing but seemed completely catatonic. They were trying to explain to him what was happening but he had no idea what his name was even I'm sure. He just was not present. No one was mad or aggressive with him but it was so surreal. They ushered him out of the lobby and onto the sidewalk outside with all of stuff and after a while someone must have called the cops because one came and calmly scooped him up. It was an extremely calm, run of the mill occurrence to all of these people. I felt so s****y like where was he going to go? Jail? .
#18
Walked a girl to her car after a date a few years ago. Lovely time overall. As we’re walking I notice a dude following us across the city block in an odd way. Made sure she got into her car and did the whole end of date thing.
As she pulls off I’m still clocking the dude and it’s clear is violently cranking his hog from across the street watching us.
It was one of those moments I was so baffled and irate I wanted to run him over with my car. It was beyond disgusting and disturbing.
#19
Driving along minding my own business
a pickup truck, from far outside lane, floors the accelerator, cuts across the 4 lanes of the interstate, and smashes into the center bridge pylons as close to 100 mph. The brake lights never came on.
I didn't stop to render aid as there was already people stopped. But I did call police and rescue. I didn't stop, because the people there couldn't get the doors open, and I could see that the frame of the truck was warped badly. I knew that no one was alive in there, and I didn't need to see another d**d body.
Saw on the news later, father of 2, just got off the phone with his wife, arguing about child custody, decided to k**l himself and all his kids. And he succeeded. Everyone was d**d on impact.
I do not regret not stopping.
LakotaWolf (she/her) 15 hours ago
I've been actively suícidal many times in my life, and I've made two very serious attempts. I do believe a person's life is their own, to an extent, and trying to commit suícide shouldn't be considered a crime, as it is in some places. However, taking someone else "with you" when you decide to commit suícide is absolutely abhorrent and evil. Taking your CHILDREN with you is an abomination. Kíll yourself, fine. Don't múrder other people too.
#20
Pile of human feces on a seat in the subway. I always have manners when I’m getting on and off the train, but that time I literally pushed my way off when we got to the station, because I was a few seconds from throwing up from the smell.
Luke || Kira (he/she) 10 hours ago
My mom works in a supermarket. The number of people who just took a sㅤhit in the middle of an aisle is not zero. It's not one either.
#21
A man jumping in front of an arriving train in a train station. I never forget how calm he laid his neck on the track.
Upstaged75 16 hours ago (edited)
A childhood friend of my brother was ki.lled when he attempted to cross an empty subway train track in NYC and accidentally fell on the 3rd rail, which is electrified. He was only 26. The fact that at train/subway stations it's so easy to access the track (or to get pushed in front of a train!) really freaks me out.
#23
A homeless couple was passed out in the fetal position lying on the ground. The woman had her pants pulled down and had explosive diarrhea. It was a big disgusting rooster tail coming out of her a*s.
That’s just off the top of my head living downtown in a major city.
random_froggg (she/they 86/47) 12 hours ago
That’s absolutely awful. This is the first one to make me emotional. The human race has failed
#24
The summer of 2011 my buddy and I were at a bar in our college town. There was an older gentleman there, very VERY drunk and picking fights with this random guy over his girlfriend. Normal rowdy bar stuff, nothing we put too much thought into at the time.
A few hours later and we’re leaving the bar and there’s a crowd of people gathering on the sidewalk, gathered around the drunk guy from earlier, who was lying in the road with his head on the edge of the curb, barely breathing with blood pooling so bad that it started running down the street.
Find out the next day that the guy had apparently physically fought the dude with the girlfriend he was harassing earlier, and that was his ~~final evening on Earth.~~ third-to-last day on Earth.
Earonn - 6 hours ago
I once had such a drunk guys in a pub who tried to start a fight with my boyfriend. His friend apologised and got him out and we laughed afterwards at the fact that he wasn't aware that it would have been me he would have to fight, not my BF. Look, give drunken people a bit of leeway, but OTOH, if someone continues to get sh/tfaced despite knowing they get aggressive, they deserve whatever they get, because chances are, they harmed others before.
#26
I used to work in a bit of a rough area. Mostly industrial and a lot of homeless who had been chased out of the nicer areas. One day, my coworker and I drive to the gas station to get some snacks. As we pull up to the stoplight, the door of the car in front of us opens and a guy with his hands tied behind his back flops into the ground and starts running away. Another guy jumps from the passenger seat, knocks him down and kicks him in the head, then gets back in the car which runs the red and peels away. Tied up guy manages to get up and disappears down an alley.
I was driving, so my coworker calls the police, gives them the location and make/model of the car. According to him, as soon as he gave the location the police were essentially like "oh, that's normal. Best to let them sort it out amongst themselves.".
#28
I was driving on the interstate and a piece of tire came out from under one of the cars in front of me. Then I realized it was a black stuffed animal. Then I had the horrible realization it was in fact a kitten that fell out from under a car. It bounced on the road then ran into the bushes. I took the nearest exit and doubled back to the spot where I saw it. Never found the little guy. 😔 Not sure if it survived we were going like 70 mph. Kittens are super resilient so who knows.
#29
Back in the late 90s I was around 10 and went on a hayride. This man was standing beside of the man driving the tractor and he jumped off, tripped and he was basically like a speed bump. His head was crushed. His son was also on this ride.
#30
When I was seven, my mom, brother and I were headed to the local shopping center and we came upon a car accident. It was horrible. Metal and glass everywhere and ambulance attendants trying to get people on stretchers. This was 1969, before paramedics and EMTs so people weren’t receiving treatment. I distinctly remember a woman who reminded me of my grandmother walking toward an ambulance holding a bloody cloth to her face. I was horrified and I’ve never forgotten it.
Upstaged75 16 hours ago
Interesting! I never thought about a time before ambulances/EMS: The year 1969 was a pivotal turning point in emergency medicine history. The first nationally recognized Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) training curriculum was published, marking the birth of modern Emergency Medical Services (EMS).
#31
I saw a man berating a little girl. She was about 10 maybe, he got down to her level, in her face, and was saying things like "So that's what you f*****g are? That's who the f**k you are? You make me sick" He also had a baby in a stroller. Saw him walk off with the girl and baby, then saw him again about 20 minutes later with only the baby. The man looked dirty and emaciated (though the kids looked clean and healthy tbf)
It really bothered me. I don't know what I should have done, but I feel like I failed somehow by observing that.
#32
I was eating in a restaurant and saw a man walk up to park bench… he had a hospital gown on… he laid down on it and was skinnier that any man I had ever seen. Think Eugenia Cooney but a grown man. He looked like he was going to d*e. No one stopped to help him. I was little.
#33
it was some dude pulling a little girl outside while she was trying to fight back while a woman was seemingly reporting it to the police??
idk
she was describing the kid.
#34
Eating my lunch in Central Park and an old lady dropped trow and took a dump a few feet away.
What do you think ?
Doc Thissen 1 hour ago
I have one. I had a crew working on a box behind a shopp9ing center. Some guy came running up, jumped on one of my employees, screamed something and then ran off. The only problem is... when he ran off, he ran straight on to the railroad tracks. In front of a train. Which was doing about 30 MPH. Needless to say, the guy didn't survive.
Chich the witch 2 hours ago
Came up on an accident just after it happened. Pedestrian hit by a vehicle. Body on the road, head smashed and the brain laying a few feet away.
Tobias Reaper 14 hours ago
when i was 13 on the home from my paper round this was before everyone had mobile phones it was a bit of a rough area i saw woman that had fallen over face first onto the ground it was nasty. I was just a kid and was scared so I ran away. I saw her a few weeks later she was fine apart from nasty scars on her face.
Doc Thissen 1 hour ago
I have one. I had a crew working on a box behind a shopp9ing center. Some guy came running up, jumped on one of my employees, screamed something and then ran off. The only problem is... when he ran off, he ran straight on to the railroad tracks. In front of a train. Which was doing about 30 MPH. Needless to say, the guy didn't survive.
Chich the witch 2 hours ago
Came up on an accident just after it happened. Pedestrian hit by a vehicle. Body on the road, head smashed and the brain laying a few feet away.
Tobias Reaper 14 hours ago
when i was 13 on the home from my paper round this was before everyone had mobile phones it was a bit of a rough area i saw woman that had fallen over face first onto the ground it was nasty. I was just a kid and was scared so I ran away. I saw her a few weeks later she was fine apart from nasty scars on her face.
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