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“This Scary Fact”: 50 Facts To Scroll Through In The Darkness
Interview With Expert
There’s a reason why horror films and true crime documentaries have their fair share of fan bases. Many are drawn to frightening, weird, and unsettling stories, regardless of whether they happened in real life or not.
But for this list, we’re focusing on narratives that actually happened. These snippets are courtesy of ‘The Scary Fact’ Instagram account, where 1.2 million people share an appreciation for all things disturbing.
While these posts won’t necessarily cause you to lose sleep at night, many of them are disconcerting enough to cause some concerning thoughts. Scroll through to see what we mean.
You will also find insights from some experts who shared their thoughts on people’s fascination with all things scary.
This post may include affiliate links.
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#2
Saltypepper 4 months ago
Good for I surel hope he was compensated for the keeping locked up for so long being an innocent man .
The Scary Fact has 1.2 million followers and counting, all of whom share a fascination for real-life horror stories. But what exactly drives this interest?
According to Dr. Barna Donovan, the director of the MA in Communications and Public Relations at Saint Peter University, one reason can be traced back to our evolutionary roots, where our ancestors had to keep a lookout for potential danger.
“Keeping an eye out for threats, constantly imagining how deadly threats could strike, kept them alive and allowed them to reproduce,” he told Bored Panda.
“This morbid curiosity, this fascination with everything deadly, was, therefore, passed on to their offspring. Essentially, it was the survival of the ones most curious about the horrific and deadly.”
#5
Riley Quinn 4 months ago
Even as a teenager in the late 60's, I began questioning our government's morality. Years later, when my friends began dying of AIDS, I realized the US government is made up of disgusting, greedy people who didn't give a sh!t about any of us.
#6
Riley Quinn 4 months ago
Fvck our Congressional members for lacking the gonads to stand up to the rabid gun lobbyists. It's their job, but they're too busy pocketing the the lobbyists' bribes to look the other way. Not their kids getting mowed down, so they don't care.
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RoRoRomantasy 4 months ago
What a hero. I wish the laws would be changed, even just stricter. School is supposed to be a safe space
Tamra 4 months ago (edited)
This makes my chest hurt. I can't imagine losing my child at all, much less like this. And then to live in a country which has done f*ck all to fix the problem. I'm honestly so tired of being angry all the time at the madness and injustice here... I'm just f*cking exhausted by it all.
XenoMurph 4 months ago
All you can do is cast your vote for the right people, and hope enough people cast in a similar way. Write a letter to your representative. All you can do is democracy. Then find a way to accept that the world is c**p and we have to live our own lives as best we can.
Load More Replies... Sacred Panda 4 months ago
That is f****d up, I hope for the mother to have a least one single peaceful night for the rest of her life. Tell me you live in the US without...
Wild Cream 4 months ago
I’m so tired of the whole “guns don’t k**l people, people k**l people.” No, PEOPLE WITH GUNS k**l people. Don’t give violent people free open access to deadly a*****t weapons, give them mental health resources they need, and they’ll be much less likely to commit deadly violent crimes. It’s obviously a more complicated problem than I’m making it out to sound, but if the only country on earth with such free and easy access to guns is also the only country on earth with these kinds of problems, I can’t help but do the math.
DEW 4 months ago (edited)
So many people have said that this never happened. What kind of sick mind would say "Hey let's pretend that a school was shot up and children and some teachers died." It happened and parents ,family and friends lost loved ones by a man who was able to buy a gun. I'm fine with guns but not AK 47's or like them. If this man had a gun that didn't have rapid bullets shooting then some of these beautiful people could've survived. You can miss when you can just shoot one bullet at a time. Then having to reload. Think of yourself if someone shoots at you would you prefer the rapid fire guns or a 8 shooter? This is just my opinion.
Partypants 4 months ago
We practiced fire and earthquake drills as kids, now they're practicing lockdown.
Maria Maria 4 months ago
This is tragic like nothing else. Life sucks. People suck. Poor, sweet boy. This is just too much.
Earonn - 4 months ago
But hey, the USA needs all the guns! Yes, a few (dozen) kids get killed, crippled and mutilated, but at least they can defend themselves against a tyrannical government that, say, kidnaps citizens or just *people* from the street and transports them to t*****e jails or Alligator Auschwitz. ? They *do* use their guns to fight back, right? Right? Wait....what...no??
Earthquake903 4 months ago
Fvck every single republican for voting for trump and supporting the people who make horrific things like this possible
Invisible Potato 3 months ago
and nothing changed in usa since 2012, and americans still thinks that haveing gun is a great thing to have...
Susan Raskin 4 months ago
A kind, loving, an intelligent litle boy. Thinking fast and staying calm to help his buddies.
Crystal Spencer 4 months ago
There was a short time when I actually watched the conspiracy videos...a lot..they were very convincing....but then the truth was just too hard to ignore. I still feel guilty for even considering the fact that it was not what it was...a real and complete tragedy.
Kim Bailey 4 months ago
Okay so say we all ban gun ownership in the USA. I live on a farm with chickens (egg laying not meat birds). When a coyote comes to k**l and eat my birds, what am I supposed to do? Yell at it? Throw something? What if it decides to charge at me? Should I let it attack me? No. I’m going to pull out my 44 and shoot it dead with one shot! There are good reasons to have a gun. Do I need an a*****t rifle? No I’m not part of a swat team…ban the sale of those to anyone who isn’t law enforcement is fine by me. But leave us law abiding citizens alone please. Our livelihoods depend on it!
Dr. Donovan also mentioned what psychologists refer to as the “arousal jag.” In a nutshell, it’s the sensation viewers experience when tension and anxiety build up, followed by a resolution. Ultimately, he says it’s about enjoying violence and terror without the actual risk.
Santa Clara University professor and licensed psychologist Dr. Thomas Plante shared a similar statement.
“Many people are counterphobic in that they want to experience, in a safe way, what they most fear to ultimately develop mastery over it. It is a bit like flooding and exposure therapy in a safe and controllable way,” he explained.
But why do some people steer clear of any unsettling content? What about them makes them unable to handle it? Trauma-informed clinician Dr. Laura A. Fierro says they may have a more fragile nervous system, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing.
However, they will still feel the effects even after reading or watching, and may prefer quieter narratives over those with more adrenaline.
“Sometimes that decision, made privately and quietly, connects to earlier abuse, deep empathy for characters in trouble, or even the shared trauma of headlines that refuse to stay in the past,” she said.
People often say that “Too much of a good thing is bad.” However, does this saying also apply to consuming disturbing content? Dr. Donovan doesn’t think so, specifically when it comes to promoting aggressive behavior.
“If violent people had been shaped by the media, then the most violent criminals locked up in maximum security prisons should have been the heaviest media users among the population.”
However, licensed professional counselor Katie Lear believes otherwise. According to her, children, most especially, may be subjected to trauma, especially if the story glorifies a violent individual rather than merely telling a story.
“It is possible to experience something called vicarious trauma (absorbing another person’s distressing experience) from viewing violent or disturbing things happening to others, even on a screen.”
#16
Hollerfloozy 4 months ago
In this I believe they say, "You're not dead until you're warm and dead."
Now, we’d like to hear from you, readers. What scary and unsettling fact lives rent-free in your head? What about it do you find so compelling that you couldn’t forget about it? Share with us in the comments below!
#23
Shelli Aderman 4 months ago
Apparently, the inspiration for the Pippi Longstocking books have a connection to him!
#26
Riley Quinn 4 months ago
If you can manage it, shoving your fist down the throat is exactly the right move. Preferably your non-dominant arm. It actually works.
#27
T'Mar of Vulcan 4 months ago
You should read her book, "I Have Life". It happened near Pietermaritzburg, a city in Kwazulu Natal, South Africa. She just kept on thinking she was okay - like, "I'll remember these men's faces because I'm going to testify against them." Her intestines spilling out, she got up, holding them in with one hand. Oops, she could only see the sky. "Oh, I've had my throat cut, but I need to see where I'm going." Took her other hand, grabbed her hair, and held her head so she could see where she was going. Staggered into the main road and collapsed, where she was found by a passing motorist. Doctors at the hospital rinsed her intestines, put them back, sewed up her throat wound, etc. and she made a fantastic recovery. Read her book - it's amazing.
#28
#29
Riley Quinn 4 months ago
I mean, seriously. Who would ever suspect politicians being underhanded?
#34
Kabuki Kitsune 4 months ago
This one is a bit misleading. This happened after 4 chan found out about it, and how the AI was designed to take what people were saying to it, and incorporate it into its learning. So when 4 chan flooded it with racist and homophobic slurs... well it parroted them. Grok on twitter did the same thing after a 4 chan operation.
#39
RoRoRomantasy 4 months ago
A... fourteen year old. I always forget they don't have to be older to do things like this.
#41
Saltypepper 4 months ago
Why be with someone if you want to keep it a secret,just leave don't k**l them.
#43
#44
Saltypepper 4 months ago
That's awful,how can they just abandon her ,for God sake at least give her up for adoption..
#46
Bananaramamama 4 months ago
They were actually married for several months when she poisoned him. Her boyfriend was also convicted. While I have sympathy for her being forced to marry, some who died were children. It's just an all around tragedy.
#47
#48
Riley Quinn 4 months ago
Even as a tween, I never got the point of that, what? badge of honor?
#62
Robert Beveridge 4 months ago
excuse me. [clears throat] AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA. [clears throat] thank you.
#64
RoRoRomantasy 4 months ago
Oh, I remember watching a video about this in elementary school. I think he lived for hours afterward before his death. Poor guy.
#65
Raven Sheridan 4 months ago
His father may also be the father of fellow actor Matthew McConaghey. Woody and Matthew may be half brothers.
#69
marianne eliza 4 months ago
To be fair, more were ground up for fertilizer and a popular paint color Egyptian Brown. Ever wonder what happened to the mummies of Cleopatra and Alexander the Great?
#70
#74
Dragons Exist 4 months ago
Every time I think I've heard of the most horrific t*****e device, a new one seems to appear
#75
Bananaramamama 4 months ago
The very concise version is that after floods her legs were trapped and they were unable to free her for several reasons. She actually survived for nearly three days in this state while some stayed by her. It is a heart wrenching story
#77
🇺🇦 PrincessPatton 🇺🇦 4 months ago (edited)
Donetsk is a city in eastern UKRAINE. It lies 50 km west of the border with ruSSia and 100 km north of the Sea of Azov. It is the centre of the self-governing Donetsk Oblast and the entire industrial region called Donbas, UKRAINE!!! Be so kind as to not use the word "facts" in your project when you blatantly ignore them!
#79
Forrest Hobbs 4 months ago (edited)
Wolfgang Schmidt: a deeply disturbed man. He made no claims to transgender identity before being found guilty and imprisoned. You don't want to know the details. 🤢 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beate_Schmidt#Early_life "Schmidt began masturbating at the age of eight or nine, gradually developing more specific and definitively sexual practices such as self-covering in feces, defecating into bras and wearing soiled underwear backwards"
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What do you think ?
🇺🇦 PrincessPatton 🇺🇦 4 months ago (edited)
Currently #79 Donetsk is a city in eastern UKRAINE. It lies 50 km west of the border with ruSSia and 100 km north of the Sea of Azov. It is the centre of the self-governing Donetsk Oblast and the entire industrial region called Donbas, UKRAINE!!! Be so kind as to not use the word "facts" in your project when you blatantly ignore them!
Agfox 4 months ago
Sending you a pic of our cat, Misty 20240211_1...7aa7de.jpg 
Not-a-Clue (she/her) 4 months ago
Some of these weren't all that scary (although some were terrifying) and several weren't facts.
Uncle Schmickle 4 months ago
Where's the one about a wheel being discovered in a deep mine ? Can we have more details please ?
Greg Stewart 4 months ago
couldnt find the lead-in science story. Unfortunately I had to look at all the terrifying stories instead. Not cool.
Greg Stewart 4 months ago
I'm trying to find the underground wheel story which Was the lead in photo to this section and you're trying to scare me to death for some reason. Not cool.
Olive Moon 4 months ago
I couldn’t finish. I woke up this morning, and the first thing I thought was about the people, and especially children, being detained in America. And then I scroll down to comments. Someone posts a pic of their cat, and for so many people, all is right with the world again 😭💔
🇺🇦 PrincessPatton 🇺🇦 4 months ago (edited)
Currently #79 Donetsk is a city in eastern UKRAINE. It lies 50 km west of the border with ruSSia and 100 km north of the Sea of Azov. It is the centre of the self-governing Donetsk Oblast and the entire industrial region called Donbas, UKRAINE!!! Be so kind as to not use the word "facts" in your project when you blatantly ignore them!
Agfox 4 months ago
Sending you a pic of our cat, Misty 20240211_1...7aa7de.jpg
Not-a-Clue (she/her) 4 months ago
Some of these weren't all that scary (although some were terrifying) and several weren't facts.
Uncle Schmickle 4 months ago
Where's the one about a wheel being discovered in a deep mine ? Can we have more details please ?
Greg Stewart 4 months ago
couldnt find the lead-in science story. Unfortunately I had to look at all the terrifying stories instead. Not cool.
Greg Stewart 4 months ago
I'm trying to find the underground wheel story which Was the lead in photo to this section and you're trying to scare me to death for some reason. Not cool.
Olive Moon 4 months ago
I couldn’t finish. I woke up this morning, and the first thing I thought was about the people, and especially children, being detained in America. And then I scroll down to comments. Someone posts a pic of their cat, and for so many people, all is right with the world again 😭💔
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