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People Are Sharing The Most Unsettling Things They’ve Noticed As A Kid About Another Kid’s Family, Here’s 26 Of The Creepiest Stories
Let’s get one thing straight right off the bat—parenting is incredibly hard and it’s full of challenging surprises. So we try our best not to judge parents for small mistakes. Everyone makes them after all. However…, some folks raise their kids in such a bizarre and unusual way that it’s making us consider whether someone should have called child services. Or at least if some grownups should have had a candid chat with the parents about what the ever-loving frick is going on in their homes.
Reddit users opened up about the creepiest things that they noticed about other kids’ families when they were small, in a very peculiar thread on r/AskReddit. ‘Weird’ isn’t a strong enough word for the type of behavior that wouldn’t feel out of place in our favorite ‘Goosebumps’ books or on TV in ‘The Twilight Zone.’ (Shout-out to R. L. Stine for scaring the bejesus out of us, time and time again.) 'The Addams Family' seems relatively tame in comparison to these real-life families.
Scroll down for what might be the weirdest things you’ll read all week, Pandas. And if you happen to recall anything similarly unsettling from other people’s homes in your childhood, you can tell us all about it in the comments. A small note of warning: some of these stories aren't for the faint of heart. If you'd like something lighter that will restore your faith in humanity, you should read our article about the most wholesome teachers ever right here.
Bored Panda got in touch with parenting blogger Samantha Scroggin, the founder of 'Running Outside in Slippers,' for some insights. We had a chat about what parents can do for their kids to always be honest with them, how the community should intervene in families' lives when the kids are being neglected, and how to avoid judging other parents for small flaws or differences in how they raise their children when they're not harmful. Read on for the full interview
Discover more in People Are Sharing The Most Unsettling Things They've Noticed As A Kid About Another Kid's Family, Here's 35 Of The Creepiest Stories
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#1
I grew up in Pennsylvania, and a family that commuted from another state moved in a few homes down from us. The kids from the family were not really my age(much younger), so I didn't really hang around them too much. Their dad always struck me as a little weird, and I wasn't really sure about him. One day he just starts coming home dressed up like a professional wrestler, went even to the length of having tattoo's and such. He put on probably 40 lbs and went from being some skinny white dude to being a muscle bound freak of nature. Grew his hair out into a mullet, I really couldn't believe what I was seeing. Then after about a year, I saw him come home completely clean cut and in a suit. Apparently he was an undercover cop busting an underground professional wrestling league.
Parenting blogger Samantha is a firm believer in letting parents get on with parenting their own way, unless laws are being broken. It's respecting people's choices up to the point that children are being harmed or neglected.
"We all need to stay vigilant when it comes to the care of children. If any of us even suspect abuse, we need to report that. That said, if the children are safe and cared for, and no laws are being broken, I say let parents parent how they see fit," she said.
"We have different experiences and beliefs, and that will reflect in how we raise our own kids. We can judge all we want, but we should practice restraint in staying out of other families' business. Because we wouldn't want someone poking their heads into our lives telling us how to parent our kids," Samantha added.
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#2
This one has a happy ending. My dad was a contractor and I made friends with one of his employee's sons because we'd always end up on the job site with our Dads. The first time I slept over at his house I got there after dark. The house was a giant one-room log cabin. The kid had like 5 siblings and all their bedrooms were just sectioned off with walls made of clothes lines and sheets. Even the bathroom didn't have walls. It was just this massive structure with a maze of hanging sheets everywhere. It made me really uncomfortable that night. Fast forward to the next morning when we go outside to play. We walk out the back door and there's a giant mansion in the back yard. Actually it was more like this cabin was in the front yard of a mansion. Turns out the dad had bought the land and built a cabin for the family to live in temporarily while he built their dream home. He gave every member of the family some awesome feature in their new room and it remains one I'd the coolest, most unique homes I've ever been in. We're all still friends to this day and I would describe them as the most loving family that I know.
#3
In middle school, I was friends with this one kid who's mom had some serious self esteem and projection issues. I remember one day she picked us up from school because my own mother was ill, and proceeded to ask her son everything he ate that day; not just his packed lunch that she had made him, but snacks and what not. When he admitted to buying fries during lunch, she proceeded to scream at him, calling him things like unhealthy pig and almost sobbing at the very idea he might get fat, despite the fact that my friend was literally the most active, physically fit player on the baseball team. If this wasnt awkward enough, she stared me directly in the eye and said "See Evan? What if you get fat, and the only wife you can find is a girl like HER?" I threw my backpack at her. Me and Evan werent allowed to hang out anymore, partially for that, partially because I told my mother about his nutcase mom.
Samantha told Bored Panda that she makes it a priority to have an open relationship with her kids. That way, they feel comfortable coming to talk to her about anything.
"If they had a bad dream or even a yucky thought they can't shake, I'll be there with them and we'll talk it through. I think working to be non-judgemental and staying calm even if your kid might be overreacting helps cement your child's trust of you as a parent. Believe that they are being truthful of their perception of events," she stressed that parents ought to build their kids' trust in them.
#4
When I was in 1st or 2nd grade I was at a friend's house and forgot to turn off the lights when I left the bathroom. My friend's dad lost his s**t. He cussed me out, made me stand in a corner, and wouldn't let me leave until I wrote "I will not forget to turn off the lights when I leave a room" 100 or so times. It was my first and last time going to that friend's house.
#5
In High School, I was hanging out with a friend and she needed to stop by her apartment to pick up something. She was hesitant to let me inside but I needed to use the bathroom. The entire apartment from what I could see was empty- no furniture, no art on the walls, no anything. I asked her if she lived with her parents or if they just moved or something and she said, "no, this is where we've lived since I was in 3rd grade." Then I said that we should get some food to take with us since she mentioned that she was hungry earlier. She said that they didn't have any food. She could tell I was confused so she walked me to the kitchen to prove it. There were about 200 bottles of liquor sitting on the counters. She opened the fridge and the freezer and they were completely full of liquor. She opened all the cupboards- every one of them filled to the brim with bottles of liquor. She said, "my parents don't really eat, they just drink" Update: (Someone asked if she turned out okay.) Yes, actually. It's a small town so even though I moved away, my Mom has remained close friends with her. She is happily married now with a bunch of kids (many of whom are adopted) and a beautiful home and a great job that she loves. Sometimes I see her when I visit during the holidays and she's always glowing- very healthy and happy. From what I've heard through my Mom, she has mentioned that her abusive childhood has helped her to be more sensitive and compassionate toward others, and as far as I know, her and her husband are completely sober now (she used to get drunk often in high school).
Many people find themselves drawn to weird and creepy tales, even if they make them feel scared or disgusted. That’s because human beings have a fascination with the mysterious and macabre. Fact or fiction, we’re often enthralled by the dark spectacle. Yearning to learn more while at the same time terrified of what we’ll discover.
Writer and Bram Stoker Award-winning editor Doug Murano, the founder of Bad Hand Books, previously explained to Bored Panda why people have such a fascination with scary stories.
“I suspect that most of us—regardless of our spiritual beliefs—have a longing for something beyond this life. Human beings seem to be pre-programmed with this urge," he explained to us.
"So much of horror and speculative fiction grapples with death and what happens after we die that I can't help but believe much of our interest in such stories is an expression of a longing for experiences and existences beyond our perceptions," he told Bored Panda.
#7
Went to this kid's house. He wanted to go to a near by playground. Mom told us we'd have to wait until she was finished with whatever she was doing. 6-7 year old kid pulls over a chair, stands on it, and slaps his mother straight across the face with force. She is quiet for a second or two, then says "Ok, get your coat." Went home and thanked my Mom for being her for about 12 hours straight.
#8
When I was about 12-13, I had this friend who lived in a house with her mother and 4 other sisters. One day I went to her place while on my period, and ended up using her washroom to change my tampon. I put the used one in the garbage can--which had a lid--completely wrapped up in toilet paper. Later in the night, right before dinner, we're all sitting at the table waiting for their mother, when we suddenly all hear her screaming from the bathroom "WHO HAS THEIR PERIOD?!? WHO USED A TAMPON??!" she came rushing down and all the sisters denied having theirs. I ended up sheepishly coming clean, to which she said "AND YOUR MOTHER LETS YOU USE TAMPONS?! DON'T YOU KNOW WHAT THAT DOES TO YOUR BODY?!" She then proceeded to make a whole dinner conversation out of why tampons are horrible for me, and why they've "ruined my purity forever" and bragged about how her daughters would never use anything so "primitive". Needless to say I never went there ever again. I thought it was so weird and w*f-y because the only way she would have seen my used tampon is if she had actually gone through the garbage, looking for something incriminating. The thing is, thats totally something this woman would do, to try and find something to yell at her daughters about.
#9
When I was around 8-9 years old, there was a girl in my neighborhood that hardly anyone ever saw, outside of school. She was maybe a year younger than me. I tried talking to her a few times, and she was very, very shy. She was never allowed at other kid's houses. Reasonable, I guess. There were a lot of questionable people in our town. However, no one was allowed over at her house, either. Not even in her yard or on her driveway. This was because, in her words, her parents "didn't like kids." Okay. One friend of ours managed to see into her house a few times. Apparently all the furniture was always covered in plastic, and everything was dark. We went maybe a month without seeing her outside of school, which was normal. One weekend, a friend and I saw her walking down the sidewalk and she told us that her father had died. Her mom told her that he 'started bleeding from the inside after he ate some crayons she didn't clean up,' and that it was her fault for not cleaning well enough. She lived in the same house until after high school. She hardly ever spoke and when she did, it was just a whisper. She sort of seemed like a small child a lot of the time, with how she acted and pronounced words. If I weren't just a clueless kid then, I probably would have said something to someone.
"Great horror stories thread a precarious needle: They maintain a sense of the truly inexplicable while creating a world and a narrative that provides enough answers to ground the story,” the writer and editor explained that the very best horror stories have to always leave some mystery for the audience to grapple with later.
“Over-explanation kills most horror, which is why the shark is scariest when you only see the fin; the alien is most terrifying when it's lurking in the shadows; the killer is most monstrous when he's masked," he said.
"My professional expertise is limited to fiction, but I'll say this: I've seen enough real magic and wonder in the world to make me think twice about whether the supernatural is real—and I think that's a healthy thing. It's perhaps less important to believe any given tale than it is to remain open to experiences while leaving room in your head and in your heart for belief,” Doug noted that the world is far deeper and weirder than people sometimes think.
#10
I was friends with a girl growing up and she didn't come from a very clean home. All the time there were clothes in huge piles all over her bathroom floor. Okay, whatever. But for some unknown reason no one in her family EVER flushed the toilet. They would sit, s**t, and just go on with their life. Every once in a while when the bowl got too full, someone would just try to flush thus resulting in week old s**t and p**s pouring out in the floor all over this laundry. Nine times out of ten they would kick around these clothes then just leave the scene. They constantly bought new clothes. The worst thing this was all just completely normal to them.
#11
Had a friend in high school. He lived down the street and rode the bus with one of my best friends. He was a nice guy but it was easy to tell that he had social problems(didn't know how to interact with other kids). No one was allowed to his house even though he would tell us all the time he was going to ask if we could come over. He told us he wasn't allowed to watch TV and the only one in the house was in his parents room. He wasn't allowed to come out but I think for an hour or so after school his parents were still at work so he would sneak out and come over to my friends house. He would eat as much junk food as he could get away with there and sometimes steal some in his pockets (we never said anything because we knew he probably wasn't allowed to eat anything his parents didn't give him). One day he asked us to come over after we got off the bus(I was riding the bus home with my friend to spend the night.) and said we could hang out for a little while. His room didn't have anything in it except for a bed some dressers and an empty bookshelf. He said his mom took all of his books away because she found out he snuck out once. Then it got weirder, he took a football from his parents room so we could play catch out back. There were giant holes dug all over the back yard, like 10 of them. When we asked him about it he told us that the first time he got caught coming over they took his books away, and after that every time they caught him they would make him dig the holes as punishment. It was heartbreaking, he knew he was going to get caught but still came over just to probably get a little bit of a normal life. A couple months later he was absent from schooll for a week or so and no one knew what was up. The middle of the next week he called up my good friend out of nowhere and told him that his parents caught him again and his dad beat him up bad. He said he ran away and tried to go to my friends house but no one was home. He went a couple houses down and and begged to call the police. He said he wasn't going to be living with his parents anymore and we never saw him again. The only phone number we knew of was his parents, who apparently moved out of the house a couple of months later. Forgot about him until this thread, I hope he's doing alright.
Meanwhile, psychologist Lee Chambers explained to Bored Panda that human beings are practically hard-wired to be fascinated with stories about dangerous, dark, and disturbing things.
"When considering why the darker side of humanity and entertainment are so compelling, we have to first look at our evolutionary journey as human beings. For the majority of our existence, we were prey and always hyperaware of threats to our safety, which created a negativity bias that we are drawn towards," he went into detail during an earlier in-depth interview.
"In today's safe and often sanitized world, we are rarely threatened significantly, and the ability to explore evil, frightening and gruesome entertainment is one of the few ways we can visit this part of humanity while remaining safe and comfortable.”
#13
Had a best friend when I was elementary school age who lived right next door to me. Their house was small but nice. The parents were both doctors, and extremely h******e Catholics. Like the kind who light candles in their walkway and pray to the Virgin Mary before leaving for the day. Going to his house sucked because it was full of old heirlooms and antiques that you weren't allowed to touch. Like old chairs you weren't allowed to sit in and china dolls sitting above the fireplace that were creepy as h**l. Turns out they aren't fit for raising kids, but they felt it was their Christian duty to have them. They had one, my friend, and decided no more. They were both too involved in their careers to deal with their son, so he spent a lot of time alone at home. They were very strict about he homework, and if he ever made a grade less then "A" then he would be grounded for weeks. He grew up and played high school football to please them with his manliness, but then turns out he is gay. They were not happy about that.
#14
It wasn't "creepy", but I always felt bad for my friend down the street. Him and I were best friends growing up, his dad was cool and normal but his mom was super weird. She made him dress like an old man all the time, dress pants and button up shirts and loafers. One day I went over to his house to play and he answered the door in a Batman t-shirt and blue jeans, I about s**t myself and asked if his mom knew what he was wearing. One day he was playing at my house and his mom showed up at the door holding a pair of scissors and saying he needed a haircut. He stepped outside and she cut his hair right on our front porch and left, didn't even sweep it up after she was done, just left a pile of hair there. We stopped hanging out when we were like 11-12, and he got really weird by the time we got into high school, very old man like, just like his mom had raised him. Still wore casual dress clothes and came to high school every day with a cup of coffee in one hand and using a cane to walk. Then he ended up going off to college. He came back with long hair, a leather jacket, and piercings all over his face. When his mom saw him she broke down into tears.
#15
An all girl's foster family I was with for a large portion of my childhood: They would buy those huge bags of cheap cereal, but once they bought a huge bag of puffed corn (salty snack) and forced us to eat it as cereal with milk. w*f. Also they had a trampoline as well as an above ground pool. But we couldn't just say "Do you want to go jump on the trampoline?" You would have to say "Do you want to go leap for the lord?" or "Do you want to go tread for the trinity?"
According to the mental health expert, it’s no surprise that stories and media that are all about the stranger, darker aspects of the human condition are so fascinating.
“There is a level of novelty to it, it removes boredom quickly, and it helps us to discover our emotional limits while understanding the minds of those who go beyond social norms and potentially gaining knowledge of how we might avoid being victims ourselves. They also offer closure, with many stories ending with the mystery being solved, and the criminal being brought to a level of justice," the psychologist said why, for example, true crime shows are so popular as a genre.
The psychologist stressed that some people find it “comforting” when they see evil things being done on-screen to someone else.
#16
I had a friend who's mother would make her wear her cloths for a week before washing them. (She was smelling very bad) That family had 5 beautiful girls but the parents wanted a boy. The Mom would go to Church every morning to pray for a son. What was weird is that every kid in the family were also praying for a brother. It's was all they would talk about and it was feeling like a strange cult. Finally prayers were answered and the Son was born. Then we changed school and lost touch. About 15 years later, I saw her in a bus. The first thing she told me was: " Did you know I have a brother now ?" It was so weird that I couldn't say anything. w*f!
#17
When I was five, I went to the neighbor's filthy house to play with two kids my age. They had a doggie door but no dog. One of the kids pointed out that that was the escape door for their mother when their father was drinking.
#18
I knew a family growing up and their policy was guests do the dishes after dinner. That's like the opposite of what you do w*f.
“It can take us on an emotional rollercoaster, have us trying to solve the puzzle and test our fear in a controlled way. The permission to explore evil is powerful, as we so rarely get the chance elsewhere, and in itself, it is healthy and normal in moderation," he said. However, consuming too much dark media can have negative effects on your physical and mental health.
"The challenge we face is the fact that consuming too much of this can desensitize us, and cause us to become less empathetic to the suffering of others, more fearful of our own environment, and potentially be more likely to use aggression ourselves. It can also cause us to be triggered by our own previous adverse experiences, make it harder to manage our own emotional balance, and increase our stress levels, so moderating our consumption is something we should have front of mind, even when we get embroiled in the latest series that is pulling us in.”
#19
I noticed that all of the rooms in this kids house could only be locked from the outside of the room. I thought that only existed in horror movies.
#20
My best friend's family invited me to stay for dinner one night when I was around age 11 or 12. We sit down to dinner and I asked if I could please have some milk or water with my meal. No. No one was allowed to drink anything while eating their meals. They all had to wait until their plates were clean before they could get a drink. w*f? But, I'm thirsty! She remained my best friend for years, but I never ate dinner at her house again. They also had 9 cats, one of which had a litter of 6 kittens. Looking back, it is amazing that they didn't have 100 cats, because none of them were fixed. They were concerned what the other cats would do to the kittens, which is understandable. So, they kept the kittens in my friend's bedroom. This was probably not so unusual at first, but two years later and these kittens, now cats, had never left my friend's bedroom. Never. My friend actually moved up to the attic when her older brother moved out, because everything she owned smelled like cat pee and she was embarrassed. Basically, she had to give up her room so that her family could keep 6 cats hostage in there.
#21
When I was around 11 or 12, I was best friends with this girl who lived about a half mile away (grew up in a very rural area so us kids just walked through forests to our friends' houses). We did everything together but I wasn't usually allowed to stay the night at her house. Her dad was 'ill' and divorced from her mom so they lived with her dad's parents. When my mom made sure the grandparents were there the whole night, I was able to stay over. For some reason, I wasn't allowed to stay in my friends room and had to sleep out in the living room. In the wee hours of morning, I heard her dad come into the living room and breathing heavy...he was arguing with himself about cuddling and touching me but his other voice kept saying "no! She is a child and a friend of my child, so no!" I was so creeped out I never stayed the night again.. I later found out her parents divorced because of the worsening of his schizophrenia and the wife was bipolar. He was having a conversation with one of his bad voices and luckily her dad was able to suppress it and kept me safe. Still scary as a tween though. Still confused as to why I couldn't stay in her room...her grandparents were very religious so maybe they didn't want us lesbianing out? Who knows.
#22
I always find it really sad that my neighbors dad sat on his lawnmower from dawn to dusk so he didn't have to deal with his family.
#23
When I was about 11-12 I had a friend that lived in a really big house in my neighborhood. We were never allowed to go to her house, outside or inside. One day, we were riding bikes and I fell right near her house and I insisted we get a napkin from her house to clean the blood. She was really weird about it. I only went into the kitchen and there was a door that was closed, she opened it and yelled that I was in the house. Her mom came in, she was a very pretty woman and was wearing a silk robe. She told us to hurry up and and then sent us on our way. About three months later they were in the news for running an illegal e****t service out of their home. Both of her parents went to jail and my friend was sent to Florida to live with her grandma. I can't imagine what her life was like during that time or afterwards.
#24
Went to a friends house and could hardly breathe when i stepped through the front door..they had like 20 dogs/cats and would just let them p**s and s**t anywhere in the house the smell of ammonia was so strong i could barely breathe, it was so bad that all the floor boards were just soaked with urine and were rotted.
#25
Oh man, almost EVERY day before we got on the bus my friends mom would pretend that he was some male suitor leaving the house. She would run out half clothed and throwing his clothes yelling "oh billy that was amazing! Ohhhhhh billy!" Pretty weird.
#26
Pour the unfinished drinks--milks, juices, sodas--back into the containers after the meal.
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