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Watching a horror movie that makes your heart pound like a rocket is one thing. There’s an excitement and sense of thrill to it that many people enjoy.

But when things like that happen in real life, it’s a whole new story. You see, probably everyone has had an experience where their heart skipped a beat from just how scared they got. And some people felt the horror breathing right into their backs, making it the most spine-chilling moment they wish to forget. But it’s not that simple.

So, pull your seat closer, get a warm blanket and be ready to turn on the lights at any moment, cause this thread is not for the faint-hearted. “Have you ever been scared to the core of your soul?” asked one Redditor and stories started rolling in, each one more frightening than the previous one.

#1

People Who Were Scared To Their Core Share Their 30 Spine-Chilling Experiences I was 11 maybe 12 years old. Dad worked late most nights so I was home alone per usual. Home however was a ranch house far out of town in a Florida pine forest. It was late and dark. The doors were all French style glass with no blinds or curtains. Outside those glass doors was only a hauntingly dark tree line, dimly lit by the moon. Leaving all the lights on and a TV gave some comfort but this meant it was much easier to see in than it was for me to see out..

On this night I had to get something out of the “back room”, this was our name for a garage that was absorbed into the house. The concrete floors and unfinished walls gave the room a cold air. As I’m searching for what I need, I glance up to see a large bleach-white figure standing outside the glass door. 6 feet tall with no head and no expression. Just white hair draped in front like a ring girl. This was the night I learned there was another option besides fight or flight. It was freeze. I stood frozen in fear, as if the blood in my body just drained. Unable to do anything until my brain recognized it was a horses a*s. The horse got out of its pen and was chilling under the carport, with its a*s against the glass door.

LElige , Vedran Miletić Report

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#2

People Who Were Scared To Their Core Share Their 30 Spine-Chilling Experiences I was about to fall asleep in my bedroom (I was 16 at the time so it's a while ago). Suddenly my dad calls me, which is weird considering it was 2 in the morning and my dad never calls me because we're literally in the same house. My dad tells me to come downstairs because he doesn't feel very well, so I do. My dad is rarely sick so I started worrying. When I came downstairs, he was drenched in sweat and held a hand clutching to his heart, making weird noises in pain. When I sat down beside him, he told me he called an ambulance. Then he went quiet, and around half a minute later he just said "Can you hold my hand"

It terrified me because it felt like he was making sure to say goodbye in case he died. It took longer than it should've for the ambulance to arrive, and my dads condition only got worse and worse. When they finally arrived, they were all very calm, but suddenly there was a change. They did an EKG on the spot and suddenly started hurrying around with bags of liquid and needles and monitors around my living room, and they even told me to hold stuff and carry things for them. I tried to keep my composure, but I was shaking in terror. I overheard them saying that he was having a heart attack.

They asked me to call my mom (I lived alone with my dad at the time), so I tried but she didn't pick up. I told them she didn't pick up and they basically said "Okay, take care of yourself" and left with my dad.

My dad was admitted to the hospital and ended up surviving the heart attack with minor complications, but I was left alone at home for 5 days straight. I was 16 ffs, and no one did the slightest effort to make sure that I was alright. I didn't sleep, I didn't eat. I just waited for my dad to come home. My dad is my best friend, he's the only one I have, and I catch myself going to check on him during the night just to make sure he's alive. I'm terrified every day.

y0ghurtl0ver , Mat Napo Report

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Katie Lutesinger
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

That's so horrible that no-one bothered to come and take care of the poor kid. :(

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#3

My healthy husband contracted sepsis out of the blue. In 24 hours he went from fine to multiple organ failure (all of them) and life support. He was given a 20% chance of survival. We had 2 very young kids at the time. I saw our future look completely different within hours.

On a bright note, after shed loads of antibiotics, a month in ICU and other drugs and a years recovery, he is absolutely fine, all organs recovered!
But the feeling of my world changing in a day has never left.
Never ignore signs of sepsis! Also God bless the NHS

IllustratorNo9988 Report

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dalleyviv avatar
L1z4rd
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

So pleased your husband recovered completely. My husband's story is pretty much identical, except it's now been three years and he still suffers from exhaustion, a paralyzed leg and serious nerve pain in that leg. Funny thing is the site of his original infection wasn't in that leg and the Drs have no explanation for why his leg is paralyzed. So thankful to live in NZ, where his weeks in ICU and hospital, multiple operations and skin grafts, plus time off work for recovery were covered. Sepsis is a super scary thing!

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Bored Panda reached out to Redditor Scuzzball666, who shared his scariest story in response to the thread. “Years ago, when I still lived at my parents' house, I was sleeping on the couch in the unfinished basement with my girlfriend at the time. I woke up to her shaking me awake with absolute panic in her voice whispering that there was a very tall man across the basement watching us. Hearing that made my blood run cold so I slowly peeked over the back of the couch and sure enough, I could just barely make out the shape of an EXTREMELY tall man facing us in the darkness. He was so tall that his head was close to the ceiling,” he wrote.

Scuzzball666 said that he can’t remember much of what went through his head at the time, but added that mostly it was that they needed to get out of the basement as soon as possible. “When I found out it was a scuba suit, I kinda just started laughing out of relief. I realized it would be a funny story some day,” he recounted. After the scuba incident, Scuzzball666 said that he started checking to make sure it wasn’t hanging up before he turned off the lights.

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According to the Redditor, “our minds are prone to playing tricks, especially when we’re in a state of fear, but I also believe that people have seen some truly spooky stuff with their own eyes.” He added that he has never believed in ghosts, but he “definitely believes in UFOs.”

#4

People Who Were Scared To Their Core Share Their 30 Spine-Chilling Experiences Went into my then 2 year old nephew's room to wake him up for the day. He was in his crib laying in a kind of weird posture, with his eyes wide open staring off at nothing. I figured he was awake already and thought "haha he looks dead..." to myself, and said "Good morning Matthew!" and his eyes didn't move to look at me. I said "Matthew?" and got closer to the crib and the way he looked was worse up close, just unfocused dead eyes looking at nothing, body limp. I shook him gently, then harder, saying "Matthew? Matthew?! MATTHEW?!" and when I yelled his name his eyes suddenly focused and he smiled at me and stretched like he often does when he first wakes up. Little f****r was asleep with his eyes open! It was only a few seconds but I swear my blood turned to ice, was never so scared in my goddamn life. No idea what caused it and he never did it again!

notdead_luna , Nothing Ahead Report

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#5

When I was about 10-11 years old, my best friend (still best friends) and I walked across our neighborhood about twenty minutes or so away to go visit the large pond nearby. We took bread to feed the ducks. At some point a white pickup truck pulled up and remained parked by the pond for quite some time. There was a man inside by himself that remained watching us.

I knew something was wrong and pointed it out to my friend. She told me not to worry and said he might be waiting on someone. We tried moving to the other side of the pond, to which he slowly followed us in his truck. We continued to play but both became increasingly nervous, and eventually decided after him following us a few times and continuing to watch us that we needed to make a game plan to get home. We both agreed walking back to her house was not an option. Obviously this was at a time children did not have cell phones, so that was off the table.

We agreed to make a run for it when the timing was right. His truck was right in front of where we’d need to get to the nearest house. The man began to roll down his window to speak to us so we jolted and took off running as fast as we can. He could definitely sense we were on edge I’m sure. He followed us and stopped the truck as we banged on a stranger’s door. He was full on in the middle of the road watching us. Once a man answered he sped away. At that point we were both sobbing hysterically. Luckily this was a father himself and was incredibly kind to us. We waited on the front porch while he called my father and explained the situation. My dad flew over and picked us up in what I’d like to call record time lmao. Both he and my dad called the police.


Come to find out a man in a white truck had been reported in the area for several weeks trying to pick up young girls. They put out a neighborhood watch for months in my neighborhood. I never saw him again but hope he was caught. So thankful for that random dad that helped us and took us seriously! I cannot imagine what would have happened had he not answered or we had tried to walk back on our own.

BlackBoxMerlotBitch Report

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#6

People Who Were Scared To Their Core Share Their 30 Spine-Chilling Experiences When my mom called me in the middle of the night telling me to get to her house- that the police were there and something happened to my twin sister. My initial thought was that she got arrested or something. I lived down the street from my mom at the time and the feeling of absolute terror driving there was something I cannot explain. I kept saying she’s dead she’s dead I can feel it. It was a mix of absolute panic/shock/dread that I cannot put into words. I arrived at my moms house and saw a cop car with just their lights flashing and heard my mom scream from inside. I was right. That night replays in my head often and I can still feel that horrible feeling.

Fine-Rock-9628 , Michael Förtsch Report

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krachelireland avatar
K O
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

That's horrendous. Definitely have PTSD from it too, not surprising. The day my brother died I also got that feeling hours before being home or knowing anything might have happened. You just know

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#7

People Who Were Scared To Their Core Share Their 30 Spine-Chilling Experiences When I was in sixth grade, we were in choir one day when out of nowhere an announcement comes over the loudspeaker. “WE ARE GOING INTO LOCKDOWN, THIS IS NOT A DRILL, THERE IS AN ACTIVE SHOOTER IN THE BUILDING.” We all panicked, switched out the lights, and packed ourselves into the furthest corner of the room away from the door, all 110 of us. Some people were crying, others were praying. My hands were shaking and I was just whispering, “Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god.” At some point, someone came by trying the door and pounding on it, and I had never felt terror like that before and I haven’t felt it like that since. After the longest five minutes of my life, they got on the loudspeaker and said, “Thank you for your cooperation during the drill, students. You may resume class as normal.” We went from utter terror to relief to rage in a matter of seconds.

JayzieDreamSquare , kyo azuma Report

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krachelireland avatar
K O
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

It is vile that these drills are even needed. Sort your country out, USA. Boke

emily-tennent avatar
Novel Idesa
Community Member
1 year ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

You understand that we can't, right? Our government has abandoned us in favor of profits, our "democracy" is a lie and we actually have no little to no choice who runs our country, and if we try to revolt (or even just protest) we are met with militarized police who can and will brutalize us or kill us without consequence. And there's nobody who can help us because everyone has seen what the US military is capable of.

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dirkdaring99 avatar
Dirk Daring
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

That's [fouled] up. Telling you THIS IS NOT A DRILL JUST KIDDING IT WAS A DRILL only teaches you to ignore it the next time, when there could be an actual active shooter. Don't cry wolf.

volksdroid avatar
YinzerGhost
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

If anyone outside the US wants to adopt a hard-working, middle aged man, I'll fill out an application. I'm sick of this place.

harlanbleiler avatar
Harlan Bleiler
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

This is one of the reasons my wife and I have been having serious talks about moving out of this country. Besides the multitude of other BS, my child shouldn’t have to worry about that at school. And I shouldn’t have to be at work and hope my daughter comes home from school today. So sick of it and it’s true that we have no control over it.

cheryll_veloria avatar
jefog39116 avatar
Eoin Chak
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Hello US people - genuine question: do you wonder why active Shooter drills only exist in the US?

lmellie21 avatar
Flare
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

From the US. Yes, I wonder why there are more active shooter drills than natural disaster drills.

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mrsjessicadutton avatar
Glitterati
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I’m heartbroken for the US kids and for the parents/guardians who have to send their kids to school knowing they could be killed,injured or traumatised by an active shooter. It must be a daily torment.

katy_malinowski avatar
Katy McMouse
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

It's not necessarily a daily torment but it's bad enough, especially after another rampage occurs. The scariest thing is knowing it's just a numbers game at this point and contrary to what K O thinks, there's not much we can do. We can try to vote out the idiots who support gun rights but that's like throwing a deck chair off the Titanic. I've told my boys for years to be nice and compassionate to all the kids they're in school with, but I never fully explained to them why. They think it's because it's good to be kind and compassionate (which is very true), but my real reasoning is that I hope and pray their kindness to some other child might save their lives if the unthinkable happens and the child they were kind to ends up being a shooter.

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Bee she/her
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I had the exact thing happen to me in middle school. I was in the hallway and I had to run back to class and hide. My teacher was holding a screwdriver and ready to kill. She was livid.

skatey1979 avatar
Celeste Grant
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Breaks my heart that both children and teachers have to go through this fear. I can't imagine how terrifying it must be. I'm also so sad that your government doesn't do anything to stop it.

katkatkatrocks avatar
pink_panda
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

No, our government does try to stop it. By proposing barbed wire, moats full of alligators, police officers around every corner, and filling the school with guns! Ahhh, safety and tranquility. Good for young minds to flourish.

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James G. Currie
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

The parents should have been up in arms over this F-up! If it is NOT a drill, it is REAL. Someone should have been fired for this, or at least, demoted!

autumnmcconda avatar
Autumn Artemis
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

How to give kids long lasting trauma and ptsd BEFORE the real thing gives them trauma and ptsd. Great.

deborahbrett avatar
Deborah B
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

It's absolutely vile to do this "this is not a drill!" c**p to kids in a country where being shot at school is a very real danger. I hope whichever a*****e did this lost their job.

jfjasseron avatar
Jean-Frank Jasseron
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Never say "this is not a drill" when it's actually a drill. What are you going to say when it is NOT a drill ?

philgreen avatar
Phil Green
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Unbelievable! That they have to do that to children! Completely shocking and so wrong. This is the US, while the rest of us lead ordinary, quiet lives. My school years were brilliant and free of this sort of thing, despite living close to the "Iron Curtain" or in a country not far from the spread of "communist insurgency" (in the Far East). The US needs to get itself sorted out.

charlotteeitemiller_2 avatar
Charlotte Eitemiller
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

i am disgusted this is the most cruel thing to do to a child scare them like that and how would they know if there is a real one or not a drill

w-lunenburg avatar
Wilko Lunenburg
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Insane, the only drill we have in the Netherlands is a fire-drill.

jasonmarin avatar
Jason Marin
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I would have screamed my head off at the person making the announcement.

isaacharvey81 avatar
Isaac Harvey
Community Member
1 year ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

On one hand, they made it realistic. On the other hand, they made it traumatizing. In the (non-)United States, things like this shouldn’t have to happen.

brandielitchfield avatar
Brandie Litchfield
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Schools in US have been having active school shooter drills since Colombine School shooting, I can't remember the year. But I graduated in '95 and have never had to know the terror and dread of even just the school shooter drills! They are quite traumatic to young children (preschool - second grade), I kept my own child home from school on those days and instead chose to teach her to always listen to her teacher, especially during an emergency. Children have an extremely hard time processing the possibility of a school shooting. My therapist told me that "often just the threat of violence is as traumatic to children as if the trauma had actually occurred". And we tell our children that this is just part of life as we send them off to school??!??!? No we are failing them! Yes children should be armed with knowledge to respond in any emergency, but terrifying them to the point of school becoming a fearful unsafe place is too much!! But our SCOTUS gives guns more rights than women, we are playing against a stacked deck. They say to vote to make the change you want to see. But, in today's America, the bad guys planned ahead to steal an UNSTOLEN VOTE, to make the rest of us non-MAGA MUTANTS second class citizens. Our complacency has led to the rise of a cult of evil stripping away all basic rights from everyone that is not a WHITE, CHRISTIAN MALE!!! ITS AMERICA, THE REST OF US HAVE BEEN DOOMED SINCE THE BEGINNING!! I wish I knew the magic answer! I worry that we are too far gone to save our democracy!!

rflynnh1 avatar
Rita Flynn
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I understand that parents have filed lawsuits about this. It was unspeakably cruel and traumatic for the kids. I understand that some of them still have nightmares about it.

lifeartphoto avatar
TheDivineMsM
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

What in the absolute F. What a horrible thing to do to students. What a traumatic experience.

jamestwong avatar
James Twong
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

This is completely crazy. The only way to stop this is to ban guns, stuff your second amendment 'rights'. It's a 300 year old document for gods sake.

maeve-j-mcintyre avatar
HalfFinnishedAustralian
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

At my schools they just had alarms, and the teachers would get us to either exit the building because fire or get on the floor and close the blinds, lock the doors. We were left to guess if it was a drill, sometimes they wouldn't tell us.

bobbygoodson avatar
Bobby
Community Member
1 year ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

While all drills should be performed as though the real thing, this only caused emotional damage. Better to have regular drills(fire, earthquake, etc) that aren't announced as drills or the real thing

censorshipsucks6 avatar
go away censors
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

if you have scarce skills (you might be surprised as to what they are), google scarce skills visa and choose a country. In our country for example, high school teachers grade 10-12 are considered scarce. https://briefly.co.za/26159-list-scarce-skills-south-africa.html

jentronzo avatar
Jen T
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Almost once a month, I get a call that the school is on full or partial lockdown. Thankfully there hasn’t been an active shooter in the school yet, but it never gets the slightest bit easier. There’s no point in switching schools. It happens everywhere around where I live, and several of our local schools have had multiple children bringing guns to school. It’s terrifying and exhausting. My kid goes to a “good” school too. Whatever that means anymore.

sofiagonzalez avatar
Agent 8433599
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

At my school's, this happened but they told us it was a drill. When I was little it was fun to see who could find the best hiding spot

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DarkenedSoul36
Community Member
10 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

This reminds me of a lockdown drill at our school last year. The admin wanted it to seem real so we would take it seriously, so no warning to us kids, and I don't know if the teachers knew. One day, we had a sub, and we went into a drill. The sub didn't lock the door, just put a bunch of tables in front of it. One of the kids wouldn't close his chromebook because he needed to finish an assignment, and some were trying to get him to close it in fear of someone seeing the light. That was bad enough, but a different kid kept talking and laughing really loud, and all of us were in tears trying to get him to shut up. It was extremely scary. This incident convinced the admin to tell the students that it's a drill.

juliet_bravo avatar
Jill Bussey
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

So they lied to you. Have they never heard the story of the boy who cried wolf? I suggest they read it.

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2763MilesAway
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I've seen a story about schools not saying it's a drill and I think a parent sued them for it because it made their child think they were going to die.

danaondrackova avatar
Dana Ondráčková
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I Hope their parents stomped the school to the ground. This infuriates me

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Oopsydaisy
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

There are two people on here claiming they are Australians and that we have these drills. They are not Australian and we do not have these drills. This is what drooling gun nuts do. They tell vile lies to try and break down the gun laws in civilised countries.

krista_mueller avatar
Carlotta Müller
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

If they do that, in case that there IS a REAL shooter no one will believe them anymore... and think they lie again. That is very dangerous.

lindastorm2000 avatar
Linda HS
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

No child should go through an experience like this! No parent should live with the fear of having their child shot dead at school! NOBODY!

s_mi avatar
S. Mi
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

This is unconscionable. Terrifying children and not telling them it's a drill.

joycemceleavey avatar
Joyce McEleavey
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

i have never heard of this nightmare happening anywhere but the USA. Seriously guys you need to get on top of this and demand the Government makes a serious effort to sort it out. Children should not have to live through this.

tamrastiffler avatar
Tamra
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Yes, because it's just that easy. The majority of people in this country want gun control. We sign petitions, send letters/emails to our representatives, and attend protests. Our government representatives DO NOT CARE. They take massive amounts of money from gun lobbyists. Short of some massive, cataclysmic event that turns our government on its ear, or there's some real, actual miracle, this is it. This is what we've got.

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Queerios
Community Member
1 year ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

My school did something similar once. They didn’t say it was a shooting or anything but they were kinda like “QUICK EVERYONE IN A CLASSROOM RIGHT NOW. TEACHERS LOCK THE DOORS” and didn’t tell us why. Turns out they just wanted people to stop goofing off in the hallway. 🙄

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#8

People Who Were Scared To Their Core Share Their 30 Spine-Chilling Experiences My ex-girlfriend had a psychotic breakdown. Went from perfectly normal to insane within a week. One night I took her to the hospital during one of her episodes and the doctor pumped her full of sedatives and said to bring her back in the morning as they had no beds. I didn’t feel comfortable about leaving the hospital but he assured me she’d be fine until the morning.

When I woke up the following morning I opened my eyes and saw she was lying on her pillow staring at me wide-eyed and grinning. It scared the hell out of me. As we got up to get ready to go back to the hospital she came at me with a knife and tried to stab me. I was able to get away from her and calm the situation long enough to call the police and paramedics. She later said that she had to [end] me.

I shudder to think what might’ve happened if I had stayed sleeping for longer that morning.

PapaBike , Cory Mogk Report

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#9

People Who Were Scared To Their Core Share Their 30 Spine-Chilling Experiences Sucked farther and farther out to sea on my bodyboard after sunset while surfing triple overhead waves, just as the fogbank rolled in obscuring the coastline- and the direction I needed to swim to get home.

Took a couple hours in near dark open ocean to land a couple miles up the coast, guided solely by the faint, faraway string of a few streetlights and headlights that broke though the fog.

Every splash I heard behind me was *definitely* a great white shark. I'd panic paddle whenever there was a big splash behind me (again, I was in 20 foot seas. this happened *constantly*) until I could regain my calm center and try to drop my heart rate, the whole while thinking about how all that fast paddling I did probably just attracted a shark.

This was near San Francisco, lost at sea in great white breeding grounds while looking like a seal on a winter night, in horrendous conditions. It's not easy landing on a tiny strip of beach when twelve foot waves are dumping onto dry sand and the current is ripping at a decent pace... two miles away, I landed safely.

Slept like a baby, waking up screaming every two hours

DAT_DROP , Li Yang Report

#10

People Who Were Scared To Their Core Share Their 30 Spine-Chilling Experiences I was almost murdered. It's a long story but I'll try to paraphrase it.

When I was a senior in high school a girl in my neighborhood went missing and about a month later was found dead. During that time her adoptive father was contacting people left and right. Apparently he had his suspicions about my ex boyfriend of 3 years who dated the missing girl in middle school. Adoptive father comes to my house to talk to me about ex and never really asked me anything about him but he talked about himself the whole time and how he was in a white supremacy gang and [eliminate] 12 people a year. After he left my house he kept trying to get me to meet with him alone without my mom present to talk to me more about my ex because he felt like I was leaving stuff out in front of my mom. I told him no, I wasn't comfortable and he just kept insisting. It got to the point where I had to have security walk me to and from my car at work and school. Adoptive father ends up getting arrested on unrelated charges and the detectives come and talk to me to figure out what he said to me etc. They told me to stay away from him and that he is dangerous. They pulled my mom away to speak privately to her and I didn't find out til I was in college that they told her that they think he murdered the girl and that he was planning on murdering me and blaming it on my ex that he went crazy and started murdering all his ex girlfriends.

It's been 7 years since this happened and the adoptive father was just convicted of murdering his daughter in February. But, I'm always terrified that one of his "brothers" are watching me since I testified against him.

lexyann03 , Jacky Lam Report

#11

Ok I'll tell it. It was in April of this year, and you can guess by my nik that I'm Ukrainian so I was in my backyard talking with my friend when suddenly half of the sky turned red (it was at night) and the only thing that I managed to do is say "Holly s**t !" and start counting. After 29 seconds I heard explosion after simple calculation turned out that our AA shooted dawn russian missile 10 kilometers away from me, but s**t that few minutes was f*****g scary !

EugeneFromUkraine Report

#12

I was home alone (off sick from school), and a paedophile hacked my computer. He had access to my webcam (which I didn't know at the time), and said he could see me. Described everything around me. I thought he was in my backyard, panicked and locked all the doors while crying and shaking. I called my dad and he came home straight away. It was a whole ordeal and the police did an investigation. Turns out he was a known paedophile in the US (not the country I live in). Nothing they could do.

To this day I cover all webcams on laptops/PC's as soon as I own them. All doors are locked when I'm home alone and all windows have curtains on them you can't really see through.

Yes, I've had therapy. But some paranoia just sticks.

ToughWest Report

#13

My 3 year old being diagnosed with leukemia. She had been sick for months and the doctors kept blaming it on reactions to getting some vaccines, then “anemia”, then a UTI, etc. My mom instinct one day told me if I didn’t take her to the doctor again she would die. She had labs drawn and her hemoglobin was 2.3 (that is almost no blood in your body!). I knew something was way off for months but knew it was cancer when her pediatricians’ office called and usually a nurse gives simple lab results over the phone and it was a physician telling me she needed to go to the hospital immediately and to pack bags to be there for awhile and that she had a room in the ICU ready for her. The most devastating and terrifying day of my life by far. My ex husband/her father had just left for rehab the day before and I received all of this info and had to process it super quickly on my own. I had to smile and comfort her while they poked and prodded her repeatedly when all I wanted to do was break down. She went through chemo and all that comes along with it for 2 1/2 years and she finished treatment on Halloween last year. I feel so blessed our story has a happy ending and that she got to ring that bell, but that moment felt like I was living in an actual nightmare. I was so scared that I was numb, you truly never expect something like that to happen to your baby. It’s amazing the cure rate for her type of leukemia (Pre B-Cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia) is now 97% curable. Prayers and good vibes to all of you who’ve shared experiences of trauma or terrible things that have happened.

bloodysundresses Report

#14

People Who Were Scared To Their Core Share Their 30 Spine-Chilling Experiences We were at the beach and my son needed to use the washroom. I took him and my 2 year old daughter into the washroom, my son went into the stall to do his thing. Because his swim trunks were wet, he had trouble pulling them up. I went in the stall to help him for literally 15 seconds and when I came out my daughter was gone. I ran out of the washroom, looked to the beach, she wasn't in sight. I started screaming her name and i couldn't find her anywhere. Then someone said "I think I saw her at the playground".

I ran up a grassy hill and saw her on the slide. That minute she was missing was the scariest moment of my life.

FkingButteredJorts , Ashley K Bowen Report

#15

People Who Were Scared To Their Core Share Their 30 Spine-Chilling Experiences When I was new to teaching (HS), I was being observed by a principal. The class was being mostly good, but this one student was head down sleeping. I called his name, no response, so I went over to wake him up. I touched his arm and he just fell over, yellow foamy drool everywhere. He had overdosed, thank God the principal was there with their walkie to call for help while I did what first aid I knew. The student survived- but I was so scared because I wasn’t sure how to help, or if my helping was hurting. Its the feeling of being utterly powerless and incompetent when someone’s life is in your hands.

rockstoneshellbone , Alex Simpson Report

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Katie Andrews
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Had something like this happen too. Head down, kid normally did not sleep in class at all. Called his name, touched his arm, then jostled him a little, and he fell out of the desk, all 6'1" of him. He was having a seizure, and had forgotten to take his meds that day. Called main office, evacuated other students to a nearby classroom. Ambulance called, and administrators called his mother. He was okay, just a lesson to remember always to take meds.

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#16

I was driving early in the morning one summers day on a rural highway and rolled up to an overturned car. It was one of those accidents that made you grateful that you weren’t there when it actually happened — rollover cage severely dented, front windshield cracked, several windows gone, and rear door was open. Then I did a double take. The car was still on, the front window wipers were skating over the shattered glass, and there was a man in a fetal position 5 feet away in the grass.

I pulled the f**k over immediately and called EMS. I ran over to the guy whose head was cracked like a porcelain doll. He didn’t know the date, his name, and at several points tried to get up before his legs gave out.

lookingforditto504 Report

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#17

years ago when I still lived at my parents house, I was sleeping on the couch in the unfinished basement with my girlfriend at the time. I woke up to her shaking me awake with absolute panic in her voice whispering that there was a very tall man across the basement watching us. Hearing that made my blood run cold so i slowly peeked over the back of the couch and sure enough, I could just barely make out the shape of an EXTREMELY tall man facing us in the darkness. He was so tall that his head was close to the ceiling. I whispered to my girlfriend at the time that I was going to jump up and turn the light on which had a string that you needed to pull to turn it on, and right when I did that she needed to use the light to run to the stairs and get out of the basement. So after a second of psyching myself up for whatever came next, I counted to 3 and jumped off the couch and turned the light on.

I finally got a proper look at the guy. It was my dads f*****g scuba suit that he hung from the rafters to let it dry. My hands were shaking for a half hour after that but we both got a good laugh out of it….eventually.

Scuzzball666 Report

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eed_thelast_haw
Community Member
1 year ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I know the feeling. I have several kimonos, usually they are very very long and can only dry them/air them if i hang them on the curtain. I once woke up in the middle of the night to a crucified figure outlined in the window. Damned kimono i had hanged there to dry. Found a different spot after that night.

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#18

People Who Were Scared To Their Core Share Their 30 Spine-Chilling Experiences It’s a strange one, because I had no actual, logical, reason to feel scared, yet I was terrified.
I worked in a shop a few years ago and was tidying up at the front of the store near the windows and the entrance. I saw a man walk in, but I only saw his back when he came into the store. He had long hair and wore a leather jacket or leather trousers or maybe both, can’t remember. I thought nothing of it at the time. A few minutes later the same man was walking back towards the doors and I looked at him casually. He was looking at me too so we ended up making eye contact. Instant goosebumps, shivers. Whatever vibes he was giving off it scared the sh*t out of me to the point that I couldn’t move or even take my eyes off him. He slowly walked towards the doors while maintaining an eye contact. When he walked past me, he had this smirk on his face that was just purely evil. He proceeded to walk out of the store and turned right and for a few moments he was covered by a huge sign in our window. Every cell in my body screamed at me to go. Run. Even though he was actually leaving clearly, I still felt the need to get as far away from him as possible. But at the same time I felt like I didn’t want to lose him out of my sight until I knew for sure he was gone. As he came back into view he was still looking at me. When he finally walked past our window I almost cried from relief that he was gone. He never said a word. Never even approached me. All he did was looking at me and it scared me more than anyone ever. I never saw him again and I hope I never will.

OkSandwich3276 , Alex Sheldon Report

#19

People Who Were Scared To Their Core Share Their 30 Spine-Chilling Experiences Then girlfriend [took her own life] while being on the phone with me. (To be exact - the part where she is non-responsive)

ShadyWestHaze , Gilles Lambert Report

#20

People Who Were Scared To Their Core Share Their 30 Spine-Chilling Experiences When I had a psychotic break and I left the hospital I was afraid of f*****g everything. I couldn’t leave the house without feeling like someone was about to murder or kidnap me. I’ve never experienced such fear and paranoia to that level before. Which is saying a lot bc I suffer from paranoid delusions.

Its0hs0qui3t Report

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Powerful Katrinka
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Having a psychotic episode is absolutely terrifying. Because of the psychosis, you don't have any frame of reference to discern between what is real and what isn't.

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#21

People Who Were Scared To Their Core Share Their 30 Spine-Chilling Experiences I went to go stargazing with a friend at a nearby field in Pennsylvania, near Collegeville, around 1995-1997 ~~1998.~~ We were laying down in the tall grass and looking up at the stars and we heard a rustle in the trees nearby...and then then the nose of a gun poked out of the bushes maybe 15 feet away, pointed in our direction. It was a hunter who thought we were deer, because he couldn't see us, but he heard & saw the movement of the grass. We knew if we moved, invisible (as humans) in the tall grass, we would be shot. We even saw a deer earlier, as he probably did.

I felt pure terror in that moment and without even realizing I was doing it, I found myself raising my hand slowly while singing "You are my sunshine"; I just wanted to be as NOT DEER as possible. I kept singing until I was standing up and the gun retreated and I heard twigs snapping as the hunter walked away. I honestly don't remember what happened after that, adrenaline and all, but I assume we must have walked back soon after. I have no idea why that song came to mind, as I was on total auto-pilot survival mode.

Probably the bravest thing I have ever done and i'm glad it was just a hunter hoping to bag a deer. I'm glad I was able to convince him I was not a deer.

EDIT: this was along the Perkiomen Trail near Ursinus College; and it wasn't hunting season so we were not expecting to need precautions.

9-year-cicada , Divide By Zero Report

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Diz
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

A hunter should never aim at something they don't see! You cannot be sure what you are shooting.

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#22

When I was little I had sleep paralysis. I thought I was getting kidnapped by aliens until my wonderful mother convinced me it was actually demons trying to take possession of me. I had it pretty frequently and it was terrifying "waking up" unable to move, completely helpless, and convinced something evil is trying to destroy you. I was convinced at the time if I could just start praying out loud the demons would have to leave, but I couldn't speak often for what felt like minutes at a time. Nowadays sleep paralysis is a favorite topic on the internet, but I didn't understand what was actually happening to me until I took a course on the neuroscience of sleep in college.

neobeguine Report

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Katie Lutesinger
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Wow, thanks for nothing, Mum. I've had sleep paralysis several times and it's horrible.

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#23

Snowpocalypse last year. I'm from Texas and have lived here my entire life. I've seen snow maybe 10 times. My power kept going out buy I wasn't too worried. It would be off for 5 minutes then back for an hour but by that afternoon it turned off completely. My mom had been offering to come get me and my cats all morning but I didn't want any of us driving after I read about all of the wrecks that had already happened but once I'd been without power for a few hours and started shivering I realized I couldn't stay. I spent the next hour so scared for her driving but also for us if she couldn't get to my side of town. Luckily we made it back home safely and I will always be so incredibly grateful because my apartment lost power and water for 5 days. I had a full blown panic attack once we made it there safely. People made fun of us for "not being able to handle a little snow" but it was terrifying. Our houses are built to keep the heat out so it very quickly dropped to freezing inside for a lot of people. We had 6 adults and 10 pets staying with my folks by the second day because they are on the same grid as a hospital. We lost water but had prepared for that. So many people died just trying to keep warm any way that they could.

thatspookybitch Report

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Lyone Fein
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Our infrastructure in this country is so developed that we forget how fragile we actually are.

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#24

People Who Were Scared To Their Core Share Their 30 Spine-Chilling Experiences I'm pretty sure these two old dudes were going to kidnap me once when I was 16. When I tell this story, people think I'm overreacting to some typical "harmless" creeps who weren't seriously going to do anything to me. But you would have just had to see their body language and hear this man's voice for yourself to get it. Like most women, I have heard my fair share of creepy comments from the usual men that cat call women in parking lots and stuff. This was very different. I was browsing cds alone in a store. The cd section was completely empty, aside from me. While I was looking, suddenly these two middle aged men materialized out of nowhere. They had me corned up, standing so close they were almost touching me. I looked up into the face of the one on my left, and he just had this completely blank face. With no inflection in his voice, he said, "Hey gorgeous, what are you doing tonight?" I remember being surprised by how normal he looked, because he looked like he could have been one of my friends' dad's or someone my dad knows. Very typical looking man in his mid to late 50s with completely gray hair and glasses, and a buttoned up long sleeved shirt tucked into his jeans. He looked clean and well kept. But he was giving off major serial killer vibes. His cold, expressionless face, his monotone voice... I just knew he wanted to do some Ted Bundy stuff to me. I didn't look at his friend's face, but I remember that he had a huge beer gut. I didn't reply, I just quickly darted between him and his fat friend and ran away.

Traditional_Self_658 , Lucía Garó Report

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Danni
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Never underestimate your gut feeling. Especially when your alone. If you feel like running and or screaming, do it. Worst case you'll have a funny story, best case you've just saved yourself.

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#25

People Who Were Scared To Their Core Share Their 30 Spine-Chilling Experiences Got lost when I was out skiing and almost dove off a cliff. Wound up hanging on the edge of a tree branch off like a 100 foot drop.
It was 25 years ago and I still can feel that almost hollowed out feeling in my chest. Almost like a vacuum.

Pillens_burknerkorv , Nicolai Berntsen Report

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Trisha Howson
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Oh that is bad and scary glad you made it. Glad that limb was there

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#26

People Who Were Scared To Their Core Share Their 30 Spine-Chilling Experiences Met a bear cub walking through the forest. It was 10 ft away from me, and was curious so was walking towards me. Couldn't see it's Mom. Just slowly backed away and kept walking backwards for probably half a mile.

summertime_taco , Pete Nuij Report

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#27

People Who Were Scared To Their Core Share Their 30 Spine-Chilling Experiences I was home alone when there was a knock on my front door. A man I’ve never seen before. I peeked through the blind and shook me head no and pointed to go away. He drove off a few minutes later. I’m standing in my kitchen when I see the car back in my driveway again and I see him walking around to my backyard. I immediately go upstairs to try to get a better view of where he is and what he’s doing. I went to go downstairs to grab a knife when I hear my front door open and he’s inside. I locked myself in my mom’s bathroom frantic, tried to open the window to jump out but the window got stuck. For a good 5 minutes I genuinely thought I was going to get murdered. I’ll never forget the feeling. Turned out to be a new rennovation man who was sent over for the first time that day and had a key.

newlife1550 , Noelle Otto Report

#28

People Who Were Scared To Their Core Share Their 30 Spine-Chilling Experiences I was sick at home lying in bed when I got the news that my cousin’s school was now in lock down do to a active shooter. I texted him and got no response for awhile. I’ve never felt more cold in my life and I can still feel the dread crawling up my spine if I think about the memory. He’s alive and ran away since he was outside but he had his phone taken away at the time but god damn I’ve never simultaneously had my heart pounding at the speed of sound while the world was moving slower than any slow mo camera will ever be

Lowdog00 , Ketut Subiyanto Report

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Perry Sologia
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

If you and your country were a relationship, people would be saying: "Get out of it - it's toxic". It is ..

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#29

People Who Were Scared To Their Core Share Their 30 Spine-Chilling Experiences Hit a mountain on a submarine at 250 feet and 6 knots.

Hit it a second time with the rudder and emergency blew to the surface.

Port side ballast tanks check valves froze shut until I hit them with a rubber mallet.

My fifth day at sea.

I_Am_Penguini , Darren Halstead Report

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Kathryn Baylis
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Damn! Also damn glad you tried the old-fashioned “hit it with something to get it to start working again” method—-which worked!

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#30

People Who Were Scared To Their Core Share Their 30 Spine-Chilling Experiences Tornado sirens blaring at 11:30 at night

Friendly_Raptor , Nikolas Noonan Report

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Speedgoat
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

What's worse is hearing a tornado before the sirens go off and knowing you don't have time to take cover.

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